Former mining boss found guilty of safety violations

The jury found him guilty of only one misdemeanor count of conspiring to willfully violate federal mine health and safety laws and defraud the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Stover, a Massey Energy security chief, was convicted of lying to government investigators about Massey’s illegal practice of warning underground workers when safety inspectors arrived at its mines and of later trying to have one of his guards get rid of company documents about security procedures at Upper Big Branch.

The conviction becomes the centerpiece of a wide-spanning investigation into Massey that began after the explosion. Hopefully that deterrent will keep more miners alive and intact in the years to come.

Judy Jones Petersen, whose brother was among the 29 men who died at Upper Big Branch, said the decision had put coal mine executives and operators on notice about safety.

For more than five years, Mullins said he waited for justice, now he fears that day may never come.

And prosecutors consistently reminded jurors that a conspiracy doesn’t have to be spelled out formally between parties.

“Every time you hear ‘hazard elimination, ‘ you should be thinking ‘propaganda, ‘” United States attorney R. Booth Goodwin II told jurors in closing arguments.

The death toll at Upper Big Branch, about 65km south of Charleston, was the highest in a U.S. mine accident since 91 miners were killed in a 1972 fire at an Idaho silver mine.

The conviction carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to one year in prison. The jury acquitted Mr. Blankenship of all felony charges. “I think the consequences will send ripple effects through the industry, and not just mining”, said Davitt McAteer, who had headed the investigation of the mining site, reported the Washington Post.

Throughout the trial and the years leading up to it, relatives of the victims have called for the former executive to receive a prison term.

Barry Pollack, a white-collar defense attorney for Miller & Chevalier, said the outcome was “clearly a disappointment to the government”, given its investment in the case. His attorneys said there was no evidence Blankenship was involved in a conspiracy.

“We don’t convict people in this country on the basis of maybes”, he added. “We don’t convict them of crimes because they are rich or they are rude or they are tough”.

Prosecutors made their case with Blankenship’s own voice, using phone calls he secretly recorded in his Massey office.

Under defense cross-examination, Christopher Blanchard – who ran the subsidiary that oversaw Upper Big Branch – said Blankenship and Massey pushed for safety. The truth that was common knowledge in the coalfields-that Don Blankenship cared little for the safety and health of miners working for his company and even less for the laws enforcing their rights-has finally been proven in court.