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| Don Blankenship |
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, 66, who ran one of the
most dangerous mines in West Virginia that killed 29 miners when Upper Big
Branch exploded in 2010, was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $250,000,
the maximum allowed in both categories by U.S. District Judge Irene Berger in
Charleston.
A federal jury convicted Matewan High and Marshall University
grad Blankenship on Dec. 3 of a misdemeanor conspiracy to violate mine safety
standards at Upper Big Branch. The jury acquitted him of felonies that could
have extended his sentence to 30 years.
At Upper Big Branch, four investigations found worn and broken
cutting equipment created a spark that ignited accumulations of coal dust and
methane gas. Water sprayers were broken and clogged, allowing an inferno to
erupt.
This by a company that had revenue of $3.2 billion a year. It earned Blankenship the label of "brutal coal baron."
This by a company that had revenue of $3.2 billion a year. It earned Blankenship the label of "brutal coal baron."
In 2009, Massey Energy, the sixth largest coal company in America, was fined $382,000 for "serious" unrepentant violations. A month earlier, authorities cited the mine for 57 safety infractions. The mine received two safety citations the day before the explosion, 600 in the preceding 18 months and 1,342 in the preceding five years.
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