Groundbreaking trial set to begin next week in W.Va.
The first two months of the year an astounding 364 men died in coal mine mishaps across the country, nearly four deaths for each million tons of coal mined.
On Feb. 2, 1922 — we’re talking 1922 here — 19 miners died at the Belle Ellen No. 2 Mine at Belle Ellen, Ala. The same number were killed a week later at the H.C Frick mine at Pinson Fork, Ky.
That same month close to home, 25 miners died in an explosion at Gates Mine.
The deaths at Gates were not followed up with indictments, with trials tagging mine owners, operators or bosses with blame.
This was not unusual. Coal mining fatalities occurred with such frequency in those times that they more or less blended into the fabric of everyday life. It would be wrong to say they were ignored by the press of the day; mass casualties earned banner headlines. But the courts rarely, if ever, intervened, despite a great deal of public hand-wringing and profound personal anguish.
This was true for all of the 20th century. But times are changing. The trial of Don Blankenship is slated to begin Monday at the federal courthouse in Beckley, W.Va.
Blankenship is the former boss of Massey, the mine company that owned and operated Upper Big Branch mine in April 2010 when 29 miners died in an explosion triggered by high levels of coal dust.
Blankenship, a hardnosed veteran of the Appalachian coal fields, is the first ever West Virginia coal executive to face jail time for miner deaths. He may be the first such coal executive, in any state, at any time, period.
Patrick McKinley, a West Virginia University law professor and a former attorney for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, told me his research failed to come with one prosecution.
“An important goal of criminal law is deterence,” McKinley wrote in an email. “By giving culpable coal executives a free pass when miners are killed or maimed, unlawful conduct is encouraged rather than deterred.”
McKinley called the repeated failure of county district attorneys and federal attorneys to press charges a grievous error. With the Blankenship trial, he speculated that the days of “placing profits over miner’s lives” may be coming to an end.
Why Blankenship? Maybe it was his arrogance and grim attention to detail. He maintained hour by hour track of production at Upper Big Branch, demanding updates even on weekends. He threatened underlings, telling one subordinate to “run the coal” no matter what.
Did Blankenship break the rules? You judge. Autopsies conducted on the Upper Big Branch dead revealed 71 percent had black lung disease compared to an industry average 3.2 percent.
Who do we have to thank for the Blankenship indictment, for this historic turn of events? One person, for sure, is U.S. Attorney R. Booth Goodwin II.
Goodwin, whose family is steeped in West Virginia politics (his father is a federal judge and a cousin was appointed to temporarily fill the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Robert C. Byrd), gave fair warning.
On taking his oath of office, he declared “workers shouldn’t be forced to earn a living in illegal, unsafe conditions. And everyone … should play by the same rules.”
While we’re at it, let’s give a shout out to President Obama. Because of the Blankenship charges, Barack Obama may turn out to be the best friend coal miners have had in the White House in a very long time.
Of all the great, friend-of the miner presidents of the past – Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson – none went as far as Barack Obama. What were those earlier Justice Departments doing as miners died in conditions that might have been prevented had the law not turned a blind eye. The answer: they did nothing.
All of this comes about of course well past the point that mine operator prosecutions will aid large numbers of Fayette County miners. But you never know the benefits these type prosecutions may reap in the future.
Back to 1922. A coroner’s inquest blamed the Gates explosion on “an overcharged shot” that created a flame that “projected into an atmosphere (filled) with coal dust and various combustible gases.”
The mine inspector who provided this assessment went on to praise H.C. Frick mine officials for their “attitude toward safety.”
A state report issued in the wake of the inquest took a different tack. It noted “laws were disregarded.”
Charges were never brought.
The 25 Gates dead were taken to a Masontown mortuary where they were prepared for burial. Afterward, floral wreaths were placed atop the caskets. The wreaths were sent by the company.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown and is the author of two books: Grand Salute: Stories of the World War II Generation and Our People. He can be reached at grandsalutebook@gmail.com.