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Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue, it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia. By coal production weight, it was the sixth largest producer of coal in the United States.
Donald Leon Blankenship is an American business executive, political candidate, and criminal. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company in the United States—from 2000 until 2010 when an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine resulted in the death of 29 workers. He was imprisoned for 1 year for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards.
Black lung disease (BLD), also known as coal-mine dust lung disease, or simply black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term inhalation and deposition of coal dust in the lungs and the consequent lung tissue's reaction to its presence. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. It is similar to both silicosis from inhaling silica dust and asbestosis from inhaling asbestos dust. Inhaled coal dust progressively builds up in the lungs and leads to inflammation, fibrosis, and in worse cases, necrosis.
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The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 roughly 1,000 feet (300 m) underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal. Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The coal dust explosion occurred at 3:27 pm. The accident was the worst in the United States since 1970, when 38 miners were killed at Finley Coal Company's No. 15 and 16 mines in Hyden, Kentucky. A state funded independent investigation later found Massey Energy directly responsible for the blast.
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The Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952 is a U.S. law authorizing the federal government to conduct annual inspections of underground coal mines with more than 15 workers, and gave the United States Bureau of Mines the authority to shut down a mine in cases of "imminent danger." The Act authorized the assessment of civil penalties against mine operators for failing to comply with an order to shut down or for refusing to give inspectors access to mine property. The law did not authorize monetary penalties for noncompliance with the safety provisions. In 1966, Congress extended coverage to all underground coal mines.
Environmental justice and coal mining in Appalachia is the study of environmental justice – the interdisciplinary body of social science literature studying theories of the environment and justice; environmental laws, policies, and their implementations and enforcement; development and sustainability; and political ecology – in relation to coal mining in Appalachia.
The Scotia Mine began operating in 1962 and was a subsidiary of the Blue Diamond Coal Company. The mine was located in the Oven Fork Community of Letcher County, about fourteen miles northeast of the town of Cumberland.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 J. Davitt McAteer (‘70 JD) Archived 2018-03-13 at the Wayback Machine https://www.alumni.wvu.edu/give-back/academy-of-distinguished-alumni/j-davitt-mcateer Archived 2018-03-13 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2018-04-04
- 1 2 "News Release: 01/03/2001: McATEER JOINS BENEFITS REVIEW BOARD". arlweb.msha.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- 1 2 "Davitt McAteer Statement Before Committee on Education and Labor" (PDF). May 16, 2007.
- ↑ "News Story - Wheeling Jesuit University". www.wju.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ↑ Berkes, Howard (May 19, 2011). "Report Blasts Massey For 'Deviance' In Safety Culture". National Public Radio. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
- ↑ Davitt, McAteer (2014). Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press.
- ↑ Fahrenthold, Steven Mufson and David A. (2010-04-14). "U.S. mine safety agency faulted on choice of man to lead probe into explosion". The Washington Post . ISSN 0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-03-30.