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Virus Cancels Anniversary Event To Honor Miners Killed At Upper Big Branch

A planned public gathering was shelved on the 10th anniversary of the worst U.S. mining disaster in decades. Heartfelt speeches gave way Sunday to silent remembrances and individual prayers for the 29 men who died at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

The coronavirus pandemic prompted the decision weeks ago to cancel the event. Instead, mourners were allowed to lay wreaths from dusk to dawn at a memorial site in Whitesville, not far from the mine.

Virus scare or not, Tommy Davis was going regardless. Davis was working at the mine on April 5, 2010. He lost a son, brother and a nephew.

“This corona is just what it is. It’s life,” said Davis, who is now retired. “I’ll be there to pay my respects and do my remembering and set out my flowers as I usually do. I’m doing my normal thing. I don’t change nothing up regardless of what’s going on in the world around us.”

Another Upper Big Branch retiree, Stanley Stewart, said he agreed with the decision to cancel the memorial event.

Stewart has skipped visiting the memorial every year in favor of personal reflections at home on the date of the anniversary. This year was no different.

He and his wife planned to observe a moment of silence at 3:02 p.m, the time of the explosion, “and just show a little bit of respect and try to go on.”

Worn and broken cutting equipment created a spark that ignited accumulations of coal dust and methane gas at the mine. Broken and clogged water sprayers allowed what should have been a minor flare-up to become an inferno.

Stewart was 300 feet (about 91 meters) inside the mine when it blew up and has described the blast as feeling like “hurricane force winds.” He tried to revive some of his fallen co-workers, then covering their bodies with blankets, their faces obscured by black soot.

“I sometimes go along trying not to think about it, but it don’t work,” Stewart said. “It’s kind of painful, this being the 10th one. The 10th one ain’t no different from the first one. I just know it’ll come and it’ll go, which is the good thing about it.”

Just a month ago, Stewart was in New York City attending the off-Broadway play “Coal Country” and meeting the actors.

The play is about the explosion and is based on interviews with Stewart, Davis and others. It’s about pain and suffering, something that New Yorkers are now going through as the coronavirus takes a heavy toll.

“I feel for people who live in New York and them places who are stuck in apartments,” he said. “That would be tough on me.”

In retirement, Davis and Stewart both avidly hunt and fish. Stewart loves to go camping, care for chickens and has plans to tend to his garden when the weather gets warmer.

Davis now lives alone on 200 acres (about 81 hectares) one county over from the mine site. He’s been busy building kennels, caring for his hound dogs and enjoying two grandchildren from his two other sons.

The hurt never goes away. A few days ago Davis went to his mailbox and saw a letter addressed to his late son, Cory.

“I still get them triggers,” Davis said. “As long as I stay busy, I keep my mind occupied. It’s when I sit down is when it hits me. It does every day.”

But he’s learned to talk himself out of situations where anxiety takes over. Whether it’s the coronavirus or other challenges, “you shouldn’t be running scared,” he said. “I know life is precious.

“At this point, I’ve had a good life. I’m still going to live. I’m not going to hide from it.”

Judge Denies Ex-Coal CEO Blankenship’s Request To Overturn Conviction

A federal judge has denied a request by former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to overturn his criminal conviction for his role in the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster.

In a ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia Irene Berger denied Blankenship’s request to set asside his conviction for his role in the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion be set aside.

Blankenship served a one-year prison sentence for a misdemeanor charge for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards. The April 5, 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia killed 29 men.

Blankenship was seeking the reversal of his conviction because attorneys for the U.S. government failed to hand over documents, including emails and records related to federal Mine Health and Safety Administration, or MSHA, employees. His attorneys argued that could have exonerated the former CEO.

In August, Magistrate Judge Omar Aboulhosn agreed with Blankenship’s arguments and recommended his conviction be reversed.

Berger disagreed. In her 37-page ruling, she wrote that she agreed that federal prosecutors erred when they failed to turn over documents prior to Blankenship’s trial.

“The sheer number of undisclosed documents is troubling,” Berger said.

But, she said, ultimately that was not enough to reverse his conviction, writing “there is clear precedent that guides the analysis and dictates the ultimate resolution in this matter.”

Blankenship can appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A request for comment was not immediately returned.

Judge Recommends Overturning Blankenship's Conviction

A federal judge Monday entered an order recommending former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s conviction for his role in the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion be set aside.

In the 60-page Proposed Findings and Recommendation document filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Magistrate Judge Omar Aboulhosn agreed with Blankenship’s arguments that attorneys for the U.S. government failed to turn over evidence that was favorable to the former CEO and could have exonerated him.

In the order, Aboulhosn said it was clear errors were made by the United States, however, attempts by Blankenship, who is referred to as “the Movant” in the document, to characterize the actions as malicious were unfounded.

“A detailed and thorough review of the evidence in this case clearly shows that, while errors were made and that those errors, when collectively reviewed, could have resulted in a different verdict, the undersigned did not find that the actions taken by the United States were malicious or done in bad faith,” he wrote. “The record does not establish a scintilla of evidence that then-United States Attorney Booth Goodwin and then-AUSA Steven Ruby acted in bad faith or with malice towards the Movant.”

In total, about 1,000 documents were released by prosecutors after the trial. They included emails between Mine Safety and Health Administration employees related to violations at the Upper Big Branch Mine and 61 “Memoranda of Interviews,” or witness statements.

Aboulhosn wrote there is “no question” Blankenship’s constitutional rights were violated when the government failed to turn over evidence and thus committed a Brady violation. That refers to a rule established by the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland. The rule requires prosecutors to turn over any exculpatory evidence, or evidence that could absolve the defendant.

In previous filings related to the case, Aboulhosn noted that Blankenship said, “that his conviction continues to cast ‘an ongoing cloud over [Movant’s] professional and personal life.’”

If the recommendations are approved, Blankenship’s record would be wiped clean. He could also seek civil restitution.

Attorneys for the government and Blankenship have two weeks to file responses to the recommendations. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger will make the final ruling.

Motion Seeks to Erase Ex-Massey CEO Blankenship's Conviction

Attorneys for former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship are seeking to erase his misdemeanor conviction related to the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades. A former lead prosecutor called it a desperate act.

A motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Charleston claims federal prosecutors withheld information that would have assisted in Blankenship’s defense at his lengthy 2015 trial. It said the government produced reports and other information after the trial’s completion.

Blankenship, who has long maintained he didn’t get a fair trial, served one year in prison for a misdemeanor conviction related to the 2010 explosion that killed 29 men at the Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia.

Blankenship assembled a new legal team for the latest court filing, which said evidence withheld by prosecutors until after trial “would have tipped the balance in Mr. Blankenship’s favor.”

The motion, which seeks an evidentiary hearing, was announced by Blankenship through his U.S. Senate campaign. He’s running as a Republican in the May 8 primary in West Virginia.

Former assistant U.S. attorney Steve Ruby, who was the lead prosecutor at the trial, said in an email to The Associated Press that the motion is “clearly a political Hail Mary. He’s three weeks from an election, and it sounds like he’s behind in the polls. If there were any merit to this whatsoever, he’d have filed it while he was still in prison instead of waiting almost until Election Day.”

Current U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart, who was nominated by President Donald Trump last year, said his office wants to “ensure justice is the ultimate result and any response (to the filing) will be through our actions with the court at the appropriate time.”

Blankenship was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to willfully violate safety standards.

According to the motion, Mark Clemens, who oversaw Massey’s production, sales and budgeting, said in an interview previously undisclosed by prosecutors that “there was pressure at Massey to run coal, but not enough pressure to overlook safety.”

The motion said many of the documents involved interviews with people who testified at the trial. Among them was Christopher Blanchard, who ran the Massey subsidiary that oversaw Upper Big Branch.

Blanchard testified under an immunity agreement with the government but helped the defense during almost five days of cross-examination. He previously told Blankenship’s attorneys that he himself didn’t break any laws and denied being involved in a conspiracy with Blankenship to violate safety regulations.

The motion said most of the previously undisclosed emails were written by former FBI Special Agent James Lafferty, who testified about a variety of investigation topics, from Blankenship’s compensation to his frequent receipt of reports detailing Upper Big Branch’s violations.

The documents also cited former Massey safety expert William Ross, who gave a tough review of the company’s safety shortcomings. While talking about a 2009 meeting with Blankenship, Ross testified he told Blankenship that Massey couldn’t “afford to have a disaster.”

Four investigations found worn and broken cutting equipment created a spark that ignited accumulations of coal dust and methane gas at Upper Big Branch. Broken and clogged water sprayers then allowed what should have been a minor flare-up to become an inferno.

During the trial, prosecutors called Blankenship a bullish micromanager who meddled in the smallest details of Upper Big Branch. They said Massey’s safety programs were just a facade — never backed by more money to hire additional miners or take more time on safety tasks.

Blankenship’s attorneys rested their case without calling a single witness on his behalf.

Lawsuit: Agency Didn’t Do Enough To Stop Mine Disaster

A lawsuit filed by a miner’s widow says the Mine Safety and Health Administration didn’t do enough to stop the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Carolyn Diana Davis filed the lawsuit Thursday that says MSHA didn’t do its job as a watchdog agency to prevent the disaster and was negligent in its enforcement of safety measures at the mine.

“The Plaintiff reasonably relied upon the United States to undertake its inspections and enforcement actions in a competent and non-negligent manner, and that reliance ultimately contributed to the wrongful death of Mr. Davis,” the lawsuit states.

The explosion that killed 29 miners happened in 2010, during a shift change, when a spark ignited a pocket of methane, causing massive explosions at the mine. Federal investigators say an accumulation of coal dust exacerbated the explosion.

The lawsuit cites reports from the Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel, selected by then-Gov. Joe Manchin, which said MSHA knew about UBB’s faulty ventilation system and ignored warning signs.

It also cites a federal Independent Panel Assessment that found MSHA didn’t inspect the mine adequately.

“The IPA concluded that MSHA failed to adequately perform its duties at UBB, and that this failure had a causal relationship to the explosion,” the lawsuit states.

MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit.

Convicted Ex-Coal CEO to Start US Senate Bid with Town Hall

A former coal company CEO who served a one-year prison term on charges related to the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades is kicking off his U.S. Senate campaign with a town hall meeting for voters.

Ex-Massey Energy boss Don Blankenship is scheduled to attend the meeting Thursday night at the Chief Logan Lodge, Hotel and Conference Center in Logan. Blankenship has said he wants to tell voters why he’s the best candidate. A news conference is planned afterward.

Blankenship will face U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in the GOP primary on May 8. Democrat Joe Manchin is seeking re-election.

Blankenship has said President Donald Trump “needs more than just another vote. He needs input as to how West Virginia can improve its citizens’ quality of life.”

The 67-year-old was released from a federal prison in California last year. He is currently serving one year of supervised release scheduled to end on May 9 — one day after the primary.

Blankenship received approval last August to have his supervised release transferred to federal officials in Nevada, where he has a home in Las Vegas.

He was sentenced in 2016 for a misdemeanor conviction of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine in southern West Virginia, where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion. He was acquitted of felonies that could have stretched his sentence to 30 years.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Blankenship’s bid to appeal. He has insisted he’s innocent, and that natural gas and not methane gas and excess coal dust caused the explosion. He has blamed Manchin for helping create the public sentiment against him and challenged the senator to a debate.

“I know who I am and what I am,” Blankenship said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in May after leaving prison. “And I’m more than 100 percent innocent, and the charges were ridiculous. And all the emotion and all the publicity about it was just incorrect, which has been the case with me for years and years.”

Authorities have long dismissed Blankenship’s argument. Manchin, who was West Virginia’s governor during the time of the mine explosion, has said he hoped Blankenship would “disappear from the public eye” after his prison release.