Massey Mine Investigation

Doctors Confirm Black Lung In Victims Of Mine Blast

Howard Berkes — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:47:00 +0000

The tragic deaths of 29 coal miners in a massive explosion in 2010 have provided new evidence of a resurgence of the disease known as black lung.

On Monday, a team of pathologists and lung disease experts will present the results of a detailed study of lung tissue from some of the victims of the Upper Big Bran

The Cruelest Month: Boston Blasts Join List Of Dark Incidents

Howard Berkes — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:06:00 +0000

Howard Berkes is an NPR correspondent based in Salt Lake City.

It may have been the dumbest thing I ever said. On April 19, 1999, I stood before an audience at Idaho State University in Pocatello, talking about the cruelest month. April, I pointed out, and April 19 in particular, have provided celebrated, infamous and sometimes horrific moments in our history.

What was it about the month, I wondered, or the time of year, that made April so meaningful and at times so cruel?

Former Massey CEO Accused Of Conspiracy In Court Hearing

Howard Berkes — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 21:45:00 +0000

A relatively routine plea hearing in Beckley, W.Va, Thursday, took an unexpected and dramatic turn when a former Massey Energy executive implicated former CEO Don Blankenship in a criminal conspiracy.

It's the first time Blankenship has been publicly named as an alleged conspirator in the ongoing federal criminal investigation of the 2010 explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch coal mine.

The accusation is also t

Report: W.Va. Fails To Enforce New Regs Designed To Prevent Mine Explosions

Howard Berkes — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:19:00 +0000

Ken Ward at The Charleston Gazette has a story worth reading about West Virginia's failure to enforce new coal mine dust standards prompted by the deadly explosion three years ago at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine.

Ward used the state's Freedom of Information Act to obtain and review mine safety inspections conducted by the Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.

"But despite finding hundreds of instances over the last 18 months where mining operations didn't comply with the new standards," Ward reports, t

Massey Mine Boss Sentenced; Feds Toughen Mine Safety Rule

Howard Berkes — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:28:00 +0000

Nearly three years after a deadly mine explosion in West Virginia, a former Massey Energy mine superintendent has been sentenced to prison and federal regulators have toughened a regulation that could have helped prevent the disaster.

Today in federal court in Beckley, W.Va., former Upper Big Branch coal mine superintendant Gary May was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay