Corporate and government higher-ups who want to protect themselves from being connected with any alleged wrongdoing by subordinates use plausible deniability; if they don’t know something happened, it’s more difficult to hold them accountable.
According to the federal indictment released last week, Don Blankenship does not have such a buffer. In fact, the federal government’s case against the former Massey Energy CEO for the UBB disaster that killed 29 miners is built on what prosecutors contend was Blankenship’s obsession with producing coal, even if it meant ignoring safety standards.
The federal government charges Blankenship, even though he managed a company with annual revenues of $2 billion, had to sign off on a $1.50 per hour raise for a few truck drivers at UBB. That incident in and of itself does not implicate Blankenship in the disaster, but it does reveal something about his “hands-on” management style.
Blankenship, the indictment charges, “insisted on personally receiving a report every thirty minutes detailing the longwall section’s coal production (at UBB) and the reasons for any production delays.” All the while, prosecutors say, he knew “the UBB mining group was committing hundreds of safety violations each year.”
The indictment also indicates the government has a key witness against Blankenship who is not named but identified as the “Known UBB Executive.” This individual is cited numerous times in the complaint as being on the receiving end of Blankenship’s directives to produce more coal.
“My suggestion is that you begin looking at your daily P&L’s (profit and loss statements) everyday because I’m going to make an example out of somebody and I don’t mean embarrassment,” Blankenship allegedly wrote in one memorandum to Massey mine presidents, including the Known UBB Executive.
An independent federal investigation concluded that Massey failed to “meet basic safety standards” and that the man-made disaster in 2010 could have been prevented. That report said a spark at the mine face ignited coal dust that had accumulated because of inadequate ventilation.
That report also blamed the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for not doing a thorough job of inspecting UBB, and that has been the basis for Blankenship’s defense. “UBB was the result of MSHA’s ventilation changes and a natural gas inundation,” Blankenship said on Metronews Talkline last year. “It had nothing to do with any of the things that are commonly reported in the news.”
But this federal indictment following a four-year investigation is not just a news story; it’s a serious and detailed allegation that U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin hopes to prove if and when the case comes to trial.
Naturally, Blankenship enjoys a presumption of innocence. The government will have to show Blankenship conspired to violate federal mine safety laws, that he “fostered and participated in an understanding that perpetuated UBB’s practice of routine safety violations, in order to produce more coal, avoid the costs of following safety laws, and make more money,” a practice that prosecutors argue led to the deaths of the 29 miners.
Blankenship’s well-documented obsession with intimate operating details of UBB have provided prosecutor’s with a strong foundation to build their case against him.