Massey Energy Company is a coal miner in the United States with major operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. With revenue, it is the fourth largest coal producer in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia. With the weight of coal production, it is the sixth largest coal producer in the United States.
Massey Mine produces about 40 million tons per year. The company controls 2.3 billion tons of proven and measured coal reserves in Southern Virginia West, East Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Tennessee or about one third of all Central Appalachian reserves. It employs approximately 5,850 people and operates 35 underground mines and 12 surface mines.
Massey Energy owns and operates the Upper Big Branch Mine where 29 miners died in April 2010. The Mine Safety and Health Administration found that a company culture that supports safer production contributes to the striking security breaches that cause coal dust explosions. It was rated a $ 10.8 million fine for 369 quotations and orders, the biggest for any mine disaster in US history. Natural Resources Alpha also completed Massey's potential criminal liability of $ 209 million.
In January 2011, it was announced that the Massey Energy company will be bought by Alpha Natural Resources' s competitor for $ 7.1 billion. Over 99% of Massey shareholders and 98% of Alpha shareholders voted in favor of acquisitions and courts in Delaware and West Virginia agreed with shareholder votes.
Video Massey Energy
History
IN. Massey entered A.T. Massey Coal Company in 1920 as a coal brokerage business in Richmond, Virginia, and served as the company's first president. IN. Massey obtained his first mining operation in 1945 and expanded its business to include coal mining and processing. Five generations of the Massey family led the company, including Evan Massey in 1945, William E. Massey in 1962 and E. Morgan Massey in 1972.
St. Joe Minerals gained interest in controlling A.T. Massey in 1974. Six years later, St. Joe Minerals sells interest in A. T. Massey to Royal Dutch Shell, forming a Massey Coal Partnership to run the company. In 1981, Fluor Corporation acquired St. Joe Minerals. In 1984, United Mine Workers of America went on strike against A.T. Massey, sparked a series of confrontations documented in the Mine War movie on Blackberry Creek. Fluor bought interest in Royal Dutch Shell in the Massey Coal Partnership in 1987 and changed its name back to A. T. Massey Coal Company, embarking on a period of significant growth through acquisitions.
In 1992, Don Blankenship was appointed President, Chairman and CEO of A.T. Massey Coal Company; he served as Chairman and CEO of Massey for 18 years. Blankenship oversees the growth of the company, including several acquisitions and the establishment of several subsidiaries.
IN. Massey completed an inverse spin-off from Fluor Corporation in 2000 and renamed Massey Energy Company. In 2010, Massey Energy manufactures, processes and sells bituminous coal from steam and metallurgical values, particularly low sulfur content, through its 22 processing and delivery centers, called "resource groups," many of which receive coal from several coal mine.
Massey currently operates 35 underground mines and 12 surface mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. In 2007, Massey announced a strategic alliance with Essar Mineral Resources Ltd., a member of Essar Group of India, to jointly evaluate and develop business opportunities selected on a per project basis.
The company recently promoted several executives to new positions. In November 2008, Massey promoted Baxter Phillips Jr., former executive vice president and chief administrative officer, to the president, a position previously held by Massey Chairman and CEO Don Blankenship. Phillips's new position will focus on Massey Energy's strategic growth plan and will continue to manage sales, finance, human resources, information systems and investor relationships at Richmond corporate headquarters.
In January 2009, the company promoted John M. Poma to vice president and chief administrative officer Jeffrey M. Gillenwater to vice president of human resources and Steve Sears for vice president of sales and marketing, nearly a year after promoting Shane Harvey to general counsel.
As of December 31, 2010, long-time Don Blankenship CEO resigned, and was succeeded as CEO by President Massey Baxter F. Phillips Jr.
Sale of Massey to Alpha
On June 1, 2011, Alpha Natural Resources's shareholders agreed to buy Massey Energy for $ 7.1 billion, making it the largest metallurgical coal company in the country. Several groups of shareholders tried to block sales claiming that Massey's manager had engineered the company's sales to protect itself from liability and had set up a new management job with Alpha.
Maps Massey Energy
Board of directors
- Baxter F. Phillips Jr., president and CEO, Massey Energy
- James B. Crawford, former chairman and CEO, James River Coal Company
- General Robert H. Foglesong, a retired four-star general, the US Air Force
- Richard M. Gabrys, former vice chairman, Deloitte & amp; Touch LLP
- Robert B. Holland, former director, Financial Guaranty Insurance Corporation
- Admiral Bobby Inman, former director, National Security Agency
- Dan R. Moore, chairman, Moore Group, Inc.
- Stanley C. Suboleski, former commissioner, Commission on Review of Federal Mine Safety and Health
- Linda J. Welty, former president and Chief Operating Officer, H. B. Fuller and Flint Ink
In response to a prolonged environmental campaign, on 29 May 2009 Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee announced his resignation from the Massey Energy Board. Gee says he believes he can do more environmental good on board than turn it off.
Location
There are 23 coal mining sites managed by Massey Energy. There are sixteen sites located in West Virginia, five in Kentucky, and one in Virginia. Locations in West Virginia: Delbarton, Elk Run, Greun Valley, Guyandotte, Independence, Logan, County, Mammoth, Marfork, Nicholas Energy, Progress Energy, Rawl, Republic of Energy, and Stirrat. Locations in Kentucky: Long Fork, Martin County, New Ridge, and Sidney. Locations in Virginia: Knox Creek.
Environmental and security records
In January 2008, the company agreed to a $ 20 million settlement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to resolve thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act for routinely polluting channels in Kentucky and West Virginia with coal pulp and wastewater. Although this is the largest Water Cleaner settlement, the offense is estimated to have a fine of around $ 2.4 billion. Martin County coal slurry spill
Martin County coal slurry spill
In October 2000, a coal mud hoard owned by Martin County Coal Company, a subsidiary of Massey Energy in Martin County, Kentucky, suddenly broke through and released more than 200 million gallons of coal pulp into two mountain streams, Coldwater Creek and Wolf Creek. The Martin County coal mud spill is called the worst environmental disaster ever to occur in the southeastern United States by the EPA. The spill strangled all aquatic life in the river and left the population with contaminated drinking water. The cost of cleaning for spills is about $ 50 million.
Alma Aracoma Mine Crash
On January 19, 2006, a belt line fire killed miners Don I. Bragg, 33, and Ellery Elvis Hatfield, 47, at Massey's Aracoma Alma 1 Headquarters in Logan County, West Virginia. Efforts to fight fires are hampered by inadequate fire extinguishers, fire hoses that are inconsistent with water lines, and lack of drains. On December 22, 2008, Massey Energy agreed to pay $ 4.2 million in civil and criminal penalties for the accident. This is the largest financial settlement in the history of the coal industry. The Charleston (WV) Gazette reported on January 15, 2009 that Aracoma widows Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield urged US District Judge John T. Copenhaver to refuse Massey's plea bargain and fines for the accident. The Bragg widow stated that it was clear "that Massey executives expect the Alma Mine to emphasize production on the safety of coal miners inside."
Mine safety breach
On February 1, 2006, bulldozer operator Paul K. Moss, 58, of Sissonville, West Virginia died when his engine broke the 16 inch (410 mm) natural gas line at the Black Castle mine of Elk Run Coal Co. Bulldozers immediately engulfed in flames. According to the Mine Administration Safety and Health report, the Moss operator came out of the cabin but his body was found behind a knife. Massey Energy was fined $ 2.5 million after a federal judge received the company's guilty plea over 10 criminal charges. U.S. District. agreed on a defense agreement despite provisions that left Massey and Richmond officials, Va., a coal company from prosecution. The deal also requires Aracoma to pay a $ 1.7 million fine for civil violations discovered by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
On October 8, 2008, Steven Cain, 32, of Comfort, West Virginia was murdered at the No. 1 Mines of the Judiciary. 1 Honor of Massey Energy, when she was hit by a train. The Mine Safety and Health Administration report concluded that Cain was killed because Massey's manager assigned him a dangerous job, even though he had "little mining experience and minimal training."
In 2009, the federal Mine Safety and Administration Administration cited the Upper Big Branch Massey Energy coal mine for 495 violations and filed a $ 911,802 fine.
Upper Big Branch mine mines
On April 5, 2010, an explosion at Massey owned the Performance Coal Co. mine. in Montcoal, West Virginia resulted in the death of 29 miners. The explosion, known as the Great Upper Mine disaster, was the worst mining disaster in 40 years, with casualties greater than any mining accident since the 1970s. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) released its final report on December 6, 2011, concluding that striking security breaches contributed to the explosion of coal dust. It issued 369 citations at the time, valuing $ 10.8 million in a penalty shootout. The researchers also recorded a history of security breaches at the Big Upper Branch mine, which collected over 1,100 offenses in the past three years, many of which were serious, including 50 of them in March 2010 for offenses including improper methane ventilation and poor escape. route. The federal regulator has ordered parts of the mine closed 60 times for the year before the explosion. It is said, that the FBI has launched an investigation investigating the possibility of bribery of federal officials who oversee the regulation of the mining industry by Massey Energy.
Protest
In June 2009, a Raleigh County judge gave an initial order to block anti-mountaintop eraser activists from further protests at several Massey Energy sites.
Court decision
In 1998, Hugh Caperton filed a lawsuit against A.T. Massey Coal Company alleges that Massey cheated to cancel a coal supply contract with Harman Mining, which resulted in his company being out of business. In 2007, when the case was filed with the West Virginia Supreme Court, Caperton petitioned Judge Benjamin to resign. Benjamin dismisses and ultimately forms part of a 3 to 2 majority annuling a $ 50 million jury decision. In November 2008, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the call. Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Intel Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Common Cause and Public Citizen filed a briefing in this case urging the United States Supreme Court to reject the West Virginia Supreme Court ruling. The report confirms that Judge Brent Benjamin is biased in this case. On June 8, 2009, the US Supreme Court approved 5-4, sent the case back to the West Virginia Supreme Court, and forced Judge Benjamin to resign from the case. The New York Times argues that the case involved a "terrible ethical myopia" on Benjamin Justice.
In February 2003 a judge ordered Massey to pay a resident of Sylvester, West Virginia $ 473,000 to settle a complaint that coal dust from Massey's Elk Run Processing Plant had caused health problems and lowered property values ​​in a nearby town. In addition to paying to the residents of Sylvester, Massey Energy was ordered to build a dome of cloth over their coal processing plant to reduce dust.
On September 16, 2004, a civil jury ordered Massey to pay $ 1.54 million in damages to 245 residents of Mingo County, W. Va., Who lost their water wells after Massey mine under the house. The jury concluded that Massey acted "with malicious intent, stubborn, mischievous, reckless or deliberate to dismiss the plaintiff's rights."
In 2005, Wheeling, a steelmaker based on W.Va. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel sued Massey Energy, based in Virginia claiming Massey failed to fulfill contracts of 104,000 tons of coal each month. In July 2007, Circuit Court in Brooke County, W.Va. supporting the jury award of more than $ 267 million, including accrued interest. Massey appealed the case to the US Supreme Court, which refused to hear an appeal in December 2008.
In 2005, several residents of Raleigh County, West Virginia, complained that the Massey Purpose Coal Company jeopardized the health and wellbeing of students at nearby Marsh Fork Elementary Schools. In July 2005, the West Virginia Environmental Protection Division revoked permission for the construction of a coal silo near the school. However, some employees and locals support Massey Energy by stating that the economic benefits received from the company are greater than environmental impacts to the area. 30 non-violent protesters were arrested, including actress Daryl Hannah, NASA climatologist James E. Hansen, and former West Virginia congressman Ken Hechler. In June 2009, the West Virginia Supreme Court concluded that Massey was allowed to build their second silo; "So we found out that the circuit court was not wrong, and correctly affirmed the decision of the West Virginia Surface Mine Council."
In December 2008 residents of Prenter, West Virginia filed a lawsuit claiming that the underground slurry injection from the Massey coal facility, and other coal preparation plants, polluted their underground water supply. On June 12, 2012 a secret settlement was reached between Massey Energy and residents of Prenter, West Virginia.
On October 30, 2009, Fayette County West Virginia Judge Paul Blake decided in an age discrimination case that more than 200 miners were not rehired after Massey Energy Co. bought a bankrupt West Virginia mine, entitled to a settlement of $ 8.75 million. The lawsuit includes 229 miners, including 82 union miners. Massey has been instructed to re-employ miners. Under the terms of the settlement, 82 union miners will each receive $ 38,000. The remaining miners will receive $ 19,000.
Community services
Among Massey Energy's contributions to the community is the annual Christmas Extravaganza for local children, financial assistance for local schools, and $ 1 million in college and post-graduate scholarships. Massey co-sponsored the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation (ALEF) and in 1997 formed our Doctors for the Community with Marshall University, granting a student MD loan that was waived if the recipient of medical practice for at least seven years in the Massey operation area. Massey Cancer Center of Virginia Commonwealth University is named in honor of William E. Massey for his financial funding.
In 2005 Massey established the Family Health Center that offers medical services to employee families in McDowell and Logan counties in West Virginia, which often lack access to primary care physicians and health care facilities. A study at Harvard found that life expectancy in the region is on average among the 25 worst in the United States.
See also
- Aracoma Alma Mine accident
- Martin County's coal-spilled waste
- Mountain top removal
- Top Big Branch Mine
- Julia Bonds
References
Other sources
- Shnayerson, Michael (2008), The Coal River , New York, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
External links
- Massey Energy Google Finance
- Massey 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
- 2007 Annual Report of Massey FY
- Massey Energy Explodes Mountain River Coal West Virginia - report the video by Democracy Now!
- Impact on Marsh Fork Elementary School by critics
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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