Massey Execs Tied to Upper Big Branch Blast Keep Jobs in Merger
by Mike Hall
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The former Massey Energy Co. chief operating officer who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to be interviewed by the West Virginia commission investigating the Upper Big Branch explosion that killed 29 miners, will play a role overseeing safety at the corporation taking over Massey’s mines.
He is just one of several former top Massey officials with Upper Big Branch connections who are moving to Alpha Natural Resources after shareholders for both companies yesterday approved the merger.
The recent report by the Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel (GIIP) found that the:
responsibility for the Upper Big Branch Mine lies with the management of Massey Energy. The company broke faith with its workers by frequently and knowingly violating the law and blatantly disregarding known safety practices.…Massey exhibited a corporate mentality that placed the drive to produce coal above worker safety.
Yesterday in a letter to Alpha CEO Kevin Crutchfield, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rep. Lynn Woolsey Lynn (D-Calif.), senior members of the House Education and Workforce Committee, questioned Alpha’s decision to retain Chris Adkins, former Massey chief operating officer and senior vice president, former General Counsel Shane Harvey and Baxter Phillips, who served as Massey CEO after Donald Blankenship resigned in December and prior to that as Massey president.
In an April 15 letter to Alpha and Massey employees, Crutchfield said that Adkins would “spearhead the implementation” of Alpha’s safety program known as “Running Right.” In the letter Miller and Woolsey write:
We are troubled by indications that as Chief Executive, you could think that miners are fairly served by perpetuating Massey’s safety culture for even one minute.
Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts was far more harsh in his criticism of Alpha’s decision to retain Adkins and the others, calling it “incomprehensible.” Pointing to GIIP report’s indictment of Massey’s corporate culture, Roberts says:
Who was directly responsible for this culture? None other than Chris Adkins, Massey Energy’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. This is the same Chris Adkins who was in charge when the Aracoma Alma mine caught on fire and two miners were killed. This is the same Chris Adkins who asserted his Fifth Amendment rights against incriminating himself in the UBB investigation and has yet to testify.
Chris Adkins doesn’t belong in Alpha’s executive offices. He belongs in jail.
Alpha’s also got a nice office waiting for Shane Harvey, Massey’s General Counsel, who is still pushing the ridiculous notion that the explosion at UBB was caused by some sort of natural gas inundation.
Miller and Woolsey also ask Crutchfield to answer several questions about the decision to retain the former Massey executives and they also say they would welcome his advice on improving mine safety laws.
We are certain that you agree that no mine manager should ever be tempted to knowingly put production ahead of safety and recklessly endanger miners and that deterrence is reinforced when the prospect of jail time exists rather than a sinecure in the executive suite.
Click here for an archive of the Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward’s coverage of the Upper Big Branch disasters on his Coal Tattoo blog and here NPR’s investigation “Mine Safety in America.”
Posted:
June 1st, 2011 |
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