CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former section foreman at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County claims his job was threatened as frequently as three times a week because he often could not meet Massey Energy’s coal production goals each shift in the months prior to the UBB Disaster.
The testimony of Rick “Smurf” Hutchens was one of three witnesses to take the stand Monday in the trial of former Massey CEO Don Blankenship as federal prosecutors continued to focus their case on safety conditions and running coal at UBB where 29 men died in a 2010 explosion.
Hutchens said the safety work he regularly had to do when he arrived underground to find his assigned section “looking a mess” limited the time available for production.
He “played catch up” with clean up as section boss, he told the jury, work that included rock dusting, garbage removal and coal pile clearing and, though he admitted he was often shorthanded, Hutchens testified he tried to follow the safety first, production second mantra.
“That was my motto,” he said, but continued, “I was always pressured that I wasn’t running enough coal.”
According to Hutchens, his reports to his supervisors about bad air, high methane levels, chest deep water or inadequate rock dusting were dismissed. “He made me feel like he didn’t believe me,” Hutchens said of Everett Hager, one UBB superintendent during Hutchens’ last stint there from 2006 to early 2010.
Hutchens was the 13th prosecution witness to take the stand in the trial of Blankenship who is accused of conspiracy to violate mandatory mine safety and health standards, making false statements to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission and securities fraud.
The jury also heard from Rick Hodge who worked as superintendent at UBB from early 2007 to July 2008. He testified he was able to improve conditions at UBB and get the mine off a federal mine safety watch list within 90 days after being allowed to have a larger crew of workers.
Hodge said he ended up running a rock duster himself after those workers were laid off. At one point the machine broke down and Hodge said he got a quote for a new rock duster for $175,000. He gave it to Massey mine group president Chris Blanchard.
“He tore it up and told me he wasn’t going to buy a new duster,” Hodge testified.
Hutchens also mentioned Blanchard, former president of Massey’s Marfork group which included Performance Coal’s UBB Mine, in his testimony.
“He would threaten me and my men with our jobs,” Hutchens said of Blanchard who, he claimed, made announced and unannounced visits underground to see production and “tell me I was doing everything wrong.”
The standard for Hutchens’ eight-member crew was 250 feet of coal driving per evening shift. “Lots of times,” Hutchens told the jury, he could not get that.
When he tried to show Blanchard why, Hutchens testified Blanchard made it clear he should be meeting the production targets regardless.
At times, Hutchens said he would run the belt at UBB so his supervisors on the surface would think he and his crew members were mining when they were really addressing safety issues.
At one point Monday morning while questioning Hutchens, Greg McVey, assistant U.S. attorney, referred to Blanchard as a “co-conspirator.” “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa,” immediately answered Bill Taylor, one of Blankenship’s attorneys. “You can’t say that in the courtroom.”
Following a bench conference with U.S District Judge Irene Berger, McVey’s comment was not stricken from the record.
Hutchens said he’d never heard of Massey’s Hazard Elimination Program or the separate “kill the spider” initiative aimed at rooting out Massey’s safety problems at their sources. Both have been touted by Blankenship’s defense, throughout this trial, as proof that Blankenship and his company made mine safety a priority.
Under cross-examination, Hutchens admitted other factors beyond safety delayed production at UBB and kept him from his shift goals, including equipment malfunctions or time spent waiting for a roof to be bolted.
He also said he regularly received advance notice, throughout his coal career which began in the 1980s, of federal and state inspector arrivals at mines where he was working.
The constant pressure to produce along with a pending divorce lead to Hutchens’ departure from UBB. He went on to work for three years with Patriot Coal’s Speed Mining at a mine site that he noted was visibly “whiter” than UBB, meaning the usage of rock dust to prevent mine explosions was more evident.
Under his cross-examination, former mine superintendent Hodge admitted he commonly didn’t follow orders from Massey higher-ups.
“I didn’t think I needed their help,” he testified. He also said he thought UBB “looked good” when he left in 2008.
In further testimony Monday, former UBB fire boss Larry Adams told the jury the mine belts that transport coal were in “bad shape” after his belt shoveling crew was laid off. He ended up quitting one night when he had to fire boss the entire mine.
Though Blankenship is not charged with causing the April 2010 explosion at UBB, the three federal charges against him are tied to alleged actions before and after that blast.
Monday was the 8th day of testimony for the Blankenship trial that began on Oct. 1 with jury selection.
(Jeff Jenkins also contributed to this story)