Mine Victims’ Families Recall Fear, Safety Issues
Alice Peters heard so many stories about danger in the Upper Big Branch mine that she would call in fake medical emergencies to get her son-in-law out to safety.
But she didn’t call on April 5, when a massive explosion killed section foreman Dean Jones and 28 of his fellow mine workers.
Peters told a congressional hearing in Beckley, W.Va., on Monday that she and her daughter sent faxes about the safety problems at Upper Big Branch to Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, the owner of the West Virginia coal mine. Blankenship didn’t respond, Peters testified.
Jones himself warned Massey “at least seven times,” Peters added. “They told him if he shut down the [coal] production … he would lose his job.”
From All Things Considered. You can listen at the link (4:10) It has much more impact that way, that’s how I heard it in the car today.
Otherwise, please read the link in full. This is a very very sad story about what seems like business as usual in the WVA coal mines. Shame is not enough to heap on Massey Energy and Don Blankenship, things need to change for these hard workers.