12/8/2023 0 Comments 7 days to die coal mapStill, Celeste Monforton, a former mine safety agency official now working on West Virginia’s investigation into the April explosion, argued that the safety agency does a better job of publicizing data than any other arm of the government. “I have records to show me” which controllers are responsible for deaths, he said, “but I see … that the public doesn’t have it.” “I think we probably use maybe a little different system than what’s available on the website,” he said. Kevin Stricklin, the agency’s coal mine safety and health administrator, acknowledged that there was a problem with transparency. “I think it’s just generally to avoid recognition and connection back to that parent company.” The result is a collection of incomplete public documents that act “like a veil to keep the world from knowing,” she said. Linda Raisovich-Parsons, deputy administrator at the United Mine Workers union, said that even after months of sorting through the government’s records, she could not compile a comprehensive account of which controllers were responsible for which deaths: “The individual inspectors who investigate the fatalities - those are the ones who write those reports." When it comes to listing controlling companies, she said, "Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t.” But downloading and interpreting it involves a number of complicated steps. This is deplorable.” But Roberts did not have conclusive data to support his argument.Ī spreadsheet of unrefined government data on mining accidents, including deaths and company information, is available via the mine safety administration’s website. United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts disputed Blankenship’s categorization, telling the subcommittee, “This isn’t the average. If you look at the number of fatals, we’re a big producer, so absolute numbers when you’re producing 40 million tons a year tend to get big, even with your best efforts.” “When you look at the 23 we had” before Upper Big Branch, Blankenship said in his testimony, “we’re about average. 1 priority,” he told a Senate subcommittee in May.īlankenship went so far as to claim that the company’s fatality rate was typical given its size. “From the day I became a member of Massey’s leadership team 20 years ago, I have made safety my No. Massey did not respond to requests for comment on the Workshop’s findings about fatalities and violations.īlankenship often declares that safety is his chief concern. The CEO, Don Blankenship, has confirmed that the company is considering takeover offers. NPR reported in April that Massey is under investigation by the FBI. Massey also amassed thousands more safety violations than any other coal company between 20. And our Open Channel investigative blog has an interview with the reporter who dug out this story. Related: You can see a chart here of deaths, fines and significant violations at the 10 largest companies controlling coal mines. The total includes the 23 before the accident, 29 from the explosion and two since. Including this year’s fatalities, 54 workers have been killed at Massey mines since 2000, dozens more than those of any other company. But CONSOL produced more coal, giving Massey a much poorer ratio of deaths-to-production. The Workshop analyzed government data that it requested from the mine safety agency, and found that no company other than Massey was responsible for more miner deaths from 2000 to 2009, even though Massey was only the sixth-largest coal producer in the United States last year, according to government statistics. The government has a policy for listing smaller companies that oversee everyday operations at mines, so-called “operators.” But controlling companies such as Massey - defined by the government as companies “controlling the coal, particularly the sale of the coal” - are not typically named, although controllers often set safety standards and claim credit when awards are given for good safety histories.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |