West Virginia Miners Receive $210M Settlement After 'Entirely Preventable' Explosion
United States Attorney General Booth Goodwin of West Virginia announced today that the owners of Upper Big Branch mining company have agreed to a precedent-setting $209 million settlement.
The announcement comes nearly 18 months after 29 miners were killed in a horrific explosion at a site owned by Massey Energy. Alpha Natural Resources has since bought Massey.
Miners’ families will only receive $46.5 million in restitution from the company, which comes out to approximately $1.6 million per family. The rest of the money will go towards safety improvements and upgrades as well as fines levied by the Attorney General.
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Speaking at a conference today, Attorney Booth Goodwin said, “No individuals are off the hook.” Many feel that executives at Massey knew the unsafe conditions at the mine and they should be held responsible for the deaths.
Charlie Branham, a lifelong miner, told The Christian Post that the settlement “should not be accepted without the company taking responsibility.”
He went on to say that the money paid to families is “not enough. The truth needs to be out there.”
Alpha Natural Resources told the Associated Press it is “still reviewing the explosion but hasn’t decided whether or when it may issue a report.”
Coal mining is the main source of economic growth in West Virginia, with over 63,000 jobs created in 2008 alone, according to a report by West Virginia University and Marshall University.
Yet, as corporations continue to grow, safety conditions are lagging. People living near mining sites are at significantly greater risk for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, reports show.
The United Mine Workers of American union said conditions at Massey are so dangerous that the corporation “should be prosecuted for industrial homicide.”
One person particularly affected by Massey Energy is Larry Gibson, who lives on top of Kayford Mountain. Gibson repeatedly spoke against the practice of mountaintop removal. The practice blows off the top of mountains so coal can be extracted.
Gibson is a longtime activist and he has garnered the attention of coal executives and supporters alike. He gives tours to show the destruction left by mountaintop removal and works with various organizations to spread the message to end mountaintop removal.
One supporter, Father Dan Pisano, wrote a letter to Gibson’s supporters. The letter read: “I personally believe that [mountaintop removal] is unjust, immoral, a health hazard to the people who inhabit the valleys of West Virginia, and, most of all, a sin against the God of all creation.”
Pisano also said he does not represent the Catholic Church or larger organization but was deeply affected as a man of God.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration also released its report on the April explosion. It stated that the explosion was “entirely preventable” and “reflected a pervasive culture that valued production over safety.”
“Massey routinely ignored obvious safety hazards… The tragic deaths of 29 miners and serious injuries to two others at Upper Big Branch were entirely preventable,” said the MSHA report.
