April 27, 2010
Massey Hold First News Conference Following Mine Disaster in West Virginia
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) - Although inspectors and investigators have been unable to re-enter the Upper Big Branch mine due to unsafe underground conditions, hearings begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 27 in Washington , D.C.
The full U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor meets for its initial foray into the theme of “Strengthening Enforcement and Creating a Culture of Compliance at Mines and Other Dangerous Workplaces.” WV Sen. Jay Rockefeller has been invited to attend and participate.
Four panels will testify before the committee beginning with Joe Main, assistant secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health (MSHA).
One day before the nation’s capitol focuses on the accident that killed 29 miners at the Massey Energy subsidiary near Beckley, WV, members of the Massey Board of Directors held their first news conference since April 5.
Answering criticism over their interaction with survivors, Massey Energy released a stakeholders letter explaining that the spouse (beneficiary) will collect life insurance benefits that are five time the miner’s annual pay, that the surviving spouse (until she remarries) will received health benefits (as will dependents), and children will receive a four year scholarship to an accredited public college , university or vocational school in WV.
Families do NOT have to waive their right to sue the company in order to receive benefits, the release stated.
Explaining that the mine where the tragedy occurred is “out of operation,” the release stated that once accident investigation work is completed (U.S. Mine Safety & Health Administration, State of WV, and Massey Energy), “we will determine how much work and time will be required to repair damage and make the mine a safe place to work.”
According to various news reports, the accident investigators can still not go down into the mine due to explosive gases and an underground fire. These conditions likely will prohibit re-entry into the Upper Big Branch mine for one to three months.
Massey Board of Director member Rear Admiral Bobby Inman took particular offense at a so-called “big lie” --- that Massey doesn’t care about safety. “The anger has centered around allegations that we traded lives for profits.” Inman, a tenured professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas previously served as Director of the National Security Agency and deputy director of the CIA. He took the teaching post in 2001. He has been on Massey’s board since 1985.
Inman at the news conference accused President Barack Obama, unions and attorneys of the allegation.
Stating that Massey has spent $45 million on safety enhancements, Inman added, “it’s not true, but even when you infer it, you dishonor the members and management at Massey.” He also led the charge in opposing the removal of CEO Don Blankenship by about 2% of the stockholders.
“We are fully dedicated to finding out what happened , if humanly possible to do so. We owe it to the families, to the industry, and to the public,” Blankenship stated.
In the stakeholder letter, Massey explained the MSHA violation process and emphasized an ongoing ventilation system disagreement with MSHA at the UBB mine:
“It is important to note that the longwall at UBB was not operating with the same ventilation system that it began with in September 2009. MSHA required us to change that system and we complied. Recognizing that professionals can reasonably disagree on the best method of ventilation at a mine, we have discovered the following: 1. that MSHA required several changes since that date that made the ventilation in this area significantly more complex; 2. that the volume of fresh air to the face was significantly reduced during this period; and 3. that our engineers resisted making the changes, in one instance to the point of shutting down production for two days, before agreeing to MSHAs ventilation plan changes.
“Massey Energy is cooperating with all federal and state regulatory agencies involved in this investigation. The company is committed to working together to determine the cause of the accident, and to preventing it from ever happening again.”
For a You Tube link to the news conference and additional Massey information, visit: http://masseyubb.com/
To read the entire letter to Massey Stakeholders, click: http://masseyubb.com/2010/04/26/april-26-2010-letter-to-stakeholders
However, despite the statement, MSHA had previous released the mine’s violation history that was 10 to 12 percent “more significant” than similar mines. The report emphasized that the company “failed to address these violations over and over again until a federal mine inspector ordered it done.”
Even on April 5, the day of the explosion, there were dozens of March 2010 violations unresolved. In addition, mining engineer and Massey director, Stan Suboleski, acknowledged to reporters that Massey could not label the MSHA system as “less safe.”
A representative of the United Mine Workers Union responding to Inman’s statements asserted that since 2000 , 52 people have died on Massey property. “No other company has half that many,” said Phil Smith, a spokesman for the UMWA in a Charleston Daily Mail interview.
Massey Energy has hired a public relations firm for damage control as the congressional hearings on the disaster begin today in the U.S. Senate.
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Massey Hold First News Conference Following Mine Disaster in West Virginia
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) - Although inspectors and investigators have been unable to re-enter the Upper Big Branch mine due to unsafe underground conditions, hearings begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 27 in Washington , D.C.
The full U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor meets for its initial foray into the theme of “Strengthening Enforcement and Creating a Culture of Compliance at Mines and Other Dangerous Workplaces.” WV Sen. Jay Rockefeller has been invited to attend and participate.
Four panels will testify before the committee beginning with Joe Main, assistant secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health (MSHA).
One day before the nation’s capitol focuses on the accident that killed 29 miners at the Massey Energy subsidiary near Beckley, WV, members of the Massey Board of Directors held their first news conference since April 5.
Answering criticism over their interaction with survivors, Massey Energy released a stakeholders letter explaining that the spouse (beneficiary) will collect life insurance benefits that are five time the miner’s annual pay, that the surviving spouse (until she remarries) will received health benefits (as will dependents), and children will receive a four year scholarship to an accredited public college , university or vocational school in WV.
Families do NOT have to waive their right to sue the company in order to receive benefits, the release stated.
Explaining that the mine where the tragedy occurred is “out of operation,” the release stated that once accident investigation work is completed (U.S. Mine Safety & Health Administration, State of WV, and Massey Energy), “we will determine how much work and time will be required to repair damage and make the mine a safe place to work.”
According to various news reports, the accident investigators can still not go down into the mine due to explosive gases and an underground fire. These conditions likely will prohibit re-entry into the Upper Big Branch mine for one to three months.
Massey Board of Director member Rear Admiral Bobby Inman took particular offense at a so-called “big lie” --- that Massey doesn’t care about safety. “The anger has centered around allegations that we traded lives for profits.” Inman, a tenured professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas previously served as Director of the National Security Agency and deputy director of the CIA. He took the teaching post in 2001. He has been on Massey’s board since 1985.
Inman at the news conference accused President Barack Obama, unions and attorneys of the allegation.
Stating that Massey has spent $45 million on safety enhancements, Inman added, “it’s not true, but even when you infer it, you dishonor the members and management at Massey.” He also led the charge in opposing the removal of CEO Don Blankenship by about 2% of the stockholders.
“We are fully dedicated to finding out what happened , if humanly possible to do so. We owe it to the families, to the industry, and to the public,” Blankenship stated.
In the stakeholder letter, Massey explained the MSHA violation process and emphasized an ongoing ventilation system disagreement with MSHA at the UBB mine:
“It is important to note that the longwall at UBB was not operating with the same ventilation system that it began with in September 2009. MSHA required us to change that system and we complied. Recognizing that professionals can reasonably disagree on the best method of ventilation at a mine, we have discovered the following: 1. that MSHA required several changes since that date that made the ventilation in this area significantly more complex; 2. that the volume of fresh air to the face was significantly reduced during this period; and 3. that our engineers resisted making the changes, in one instance to the point of shutting down production for two days, before agreeing to MSHAs ventilation plan changes.
“Massey Energy is cooperating with all federal and state regulatory agencies involved in this investigation. The company is committed to working together to determine the cause of the accident, and to preventing it from ever happening again.”
For a You Tube link to the news conference and additional Massey information, visit: http://masseyubb.com/
To read the entire letter to Massey Stakeholders, click: http://masseyubb.com/2010/04/26/april-26-2010-letter-to-stakeholders
However, despite the statement, MSHA had previous released the mine’s violation history that was 10 to 12 percent “more significant” than similar mines. The report emphasized that the company “failed to address these violations over and over again until a federal mine inspector ordered it done.”
Even on April 5, the day of the explosion, there were dozens of March 2010 violations unresolved. In addition, mining engineer and Massey director, Stan Suboleski, acknowledged to reporters that Massey could not label the MSHA system as “less safe.”
A representative of the United Mine Workers Union responding to Inman’s statements asserted that since 2000 , 52 people have died on Massey property. “No other company has half that many,” said Phil Smith, a spokesman for the UMWA in a Charleston Daily Mail interview.
Massey Energy has hired a public relations firm for damage control as the congressional hearings on the disaster begin today in the U.S. Senate.
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