http://www.masseyenergyco.com/about/history.shtml2007 – Massey announced a strategic alliance with an agreement with Essar Mineral Resources Ltd., a member of Essar Group of India, to jointly evaluate and develop select business opportunities on a project-by-project basis. The initial focus of the new partnership will be the development of coal reserves, coke ovens and a coal preparation plant to support an electric power plant to be constructed in India by Essar.
Later this year, Massey announced plans to aggressively expand its operations in Central Appalachia. Several new mines are scheduled to be opened and existing mines are being expanded through projects beginning in 2007 and continuing through 2009. Total coal production is planned to increase from approximately 40 million tons in 2007 to approximately 50 million tons in 2010.
Today, Massey produces, processes, and sells bituminous coal of steam and metallurgical grades, primarily of low sulfur content, through its 22 processing and shipping centers, called "resource groups,"many of which receive coal from multiple coal mines. Massey currently operates 35 underground mines and 12 surface mines in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massey_EnergyCourt rulingsIn 2005, Wheeling, W.Va.-based steelmaker Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel sued Massey Energy claiming Massey failed to deliver on a contract of 104,000 tons of coal monthly. In July 2007, a Circuit Court in Brooke County, W.Va. upheld the jury award of more than $267 million, including accrued interest. Massey appealed the case to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear the appeal in December, 2008 <36>.
In November 2008, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of a $77 million case against Massey brought by Harman Mining. The suit alleges contract interference by Massey drove Harman out of business.<37>. Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Intel Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Common Cause and Public Citizen filed briefs in the case urging the Supreme Court to throw out the West Virginia Supreme Court decision in favor of Massey. The corporations contended that Justice Brent Benjamin was biased in the case. On June 8, 2009, The US Supreme Court agreed 5-4, sending the case back to the West Virginia Supreme Court<38>, and forcing Justice Benjamin to recuse himself from the case. The New York Times opined that the case involved "egregious ethical myopia" on the part of Justice Benjamin. <39>
LawsuitsIn 2005, some residents of Raleigh County, West Virginia, complained that Massey's Goals Coal Company was endangering the health and well-being of students at the adjacent Marsh Fork Elementary School. In July 2005, the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection revoked a permit for construction of a coal silo near the school. However, some local employees and residents support Massey Energy by arguing that the economic benefits received from the company outweigh the environmental impact to the area. At a protest against the coal silo on June 23, 2009, anti-mountaintop removal activist <40>. 30 non-violent protestors were arrested, including actress Daryl Hannah, NASA climatologist James Hansen, and former West Virginia Congressman Ken Hechler. In June 2009, the West Virgina Supreme Court concluded that the Massey was allowed to build their second silo; "We therefore find that the circuit court did not err, and properly affirmed the decision of the West Virginia Surface Mine Board." <41>
In February 2003 a judge ordered Massey to pay the residents of Sylvester, West Virginia $473,000 to settle complaints that coal dust from Massey's Elk Run Processing Plant had caused health problems and lowered property values in the nearby town.<42> The judge also ordered Massey to construct a cloth dome over their facility to reduce the dust.<43>
On September 16, 2004, a civil jury ordered Massey to pay $1.54 million in damages to 245 residents of Mingo County, W. Va., who lost their water wells after Massey had mined beneath the homes. The jury concluded that Massey acted “with malicious, willful, wanton, reckless or intentional disregard for plaintiffs’ rights.” <44>
In December, 2008 residents of Prenter, West Virginia filed a lawsuit claiming that underground slurry injection from a Massey coal facility and other coal preparation plants contaminated their underground water supply <45>
Environmental recordIn early 2008, the company agreed to a $20 million settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to resolve thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act for routinely polluting waterways in Kentucky and West Virginia with coal slurry and wastewater. Although this was the largest Clean Water Act settlement, the violations were estimated to have fines on the order of $2.4 billion.<46> Over 700 miles of rivers and streams in the coalfields have been buried by the waste rock left over from mountaintop removal, a method of strip mining coal which requires the blowing up of mountain tops, removing from 500 to 800 feet (240 m) of mountaintop in the process. This method of coal mining has created some of the worst environmental disasters in the Mississippi area in regards to the poisoning of waterways, the flooding of local communities, and the destruction of the biodiversity of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
In October 2000, a Massey Energy subsidiary in Martin County, Kentucky accidentally released 306 million gallons of coal slurry waste from an impoundment into two mountain streams, Coldwater Creek and Wolf Creek (see photo right). The Martin County sludge spill was called the worst ever environmental disaster in the southeastern United States by the EPA. The spill smothered all aquatic life in the streams and left residents with contaminated drinking water. Cleanup costs for the spill were approximately $50 million.
Wolf Creek, October 22, 2000
Mine safetyOn January 19, 2006 a belt line fire killed miners Don I. Bragg, 33, and Ellery Elvis Hatfield, 47, at Massey's Aracoma Alma Number 1 Mine in Logan County, West Virginia. Efforts to fight the fire were hampered by inadequate fire extinguishers, fire house couplings which did not match the water line, and a lack of water in the lines <47>. On December 22, 2008 Massey Energy agreed to pay $4.2 million in civil and criminal penalties for the accident.<48> It is the largest financial settlement in the coal industry's history.<49>
On Jan. 15, 2009 the Charleston (WV) Gazette reported that Aracoma widows Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield urged U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver to reject Massey's plea bargain and fine for the accident <50>.
Widow Bragg stated that it was clear "that Massey executives much farther up the line expected the Alma Mine to emphasize production over the safety of the coal miners inside."
On February 1, 2006, bulldozer operator Paul K. Moss, 58, of Sissonville West Virginia died when his machine ruptured a 16-inch (410 mm) natural gas line at Elk Run Coal Co.'s Black Castle surface mine <51>. The bulldozer was immediately engulfed in flames. According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration report, operator Moss exited the cab but his body was found behind the blade.
On Oct 8, 2008 Steven Cain, 32, of Comfort, West Virginia was killed at Massey Energy's Independence Coal Justice No. 1 Mine when he was crushed by a railcar. A Mine Safety and Health Administration report <52> concludes Cain was killed because Massey managers assigned him a dangerous job, although he had “little mining experience and minimal training.”<53>
Massey's Safety Policy as stated on its website: "Safety is the top priority for every Massey member. No coal company can succeed over the long term without a total commitment to safety and a significant investment in the necessary training, equipment and personnel. We strive to remain an industry leader in safety by developing new technologies and employing effective training programs to reduce accidents and improve safety for all of the hard-working men and women of Massey Energy."<54>
EPA complaint In January 2008, the United States Department of Justice ordered Massey to pay fines totaling $30 million as part of an agreement resulting from a May 2007 complaint filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.<55>
Text Protests
In 2009, there have been six trespassing incidents at Massey mines in West Virginia. Protests have involved activists going onto mine sites, chaining themselves to heavy equipment, blocking roads, and putting up large banners. In June 2009, a Raleigh County judge granted a preliminary injunction to block anti-mountaintop removal activists from further peaceful protests on some Massey Energy sites.<56><57>
Text See also
Aracoma Alma Mine accident
Martin County sludge spill
Mountaintop removal
EXXON was evil,in the seventies,remember, and now we have the snake salesmen here on stage in our time.Time to expose them. Nice job on whomever videoed this.
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