Blankenship has denied any wrongdoing, and his attorney, William Taylor III – the superlawyer who got sexual assault charges dismissed against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former managing director of the worldwide Monetary Fund – wouldn’t comment. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and other regulators found numerous flagrant safety violations by the mine’s owner, Massey Energy Co., and concluded that they had contributed to the explosion.
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Ashton Marra research results that in fact Blankenship is “one along the finest place supervisors ever to handle additional costs having to do with mine take flight violations”. His case is a rarity, as prosecuting mining-industry CEOs for safety violations is relatively unheard of.
The mine’s former supervisor has already pleaded guilty to conspiring to impede enforcement of safety regulations.
” ‘I’m not sure anyone can tell you that there’s been a specific case where anyone had gone to the scope or the scale of what Blankenship’s accused of, ‘ said Paul Rakes, a West Virginia University Institute of Technology history professor who researches coal”.
It’s unclear if Blankenship will testify during trial. Ten years ago, Blankenship attempted to bankroll the Republican Party to move his political agenda forward.
But Ellen Smith, managing editor of the trade publication Mine Safety and Health News, said the trial was a “terribly important” opportunity for prosecutors to ensure accountability among corporate officers.
As he entered the courthouse on the first day of jury selection, a reporter asked whether he was innocent of the charges.
The former CEO faces four counts, including conspiracy to violate safety laws, defrauding the federal government, securities fraud and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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April 5, 2010: A massive explosion ripped through the underground corridors at the Upper Big Branch mine, killing 29 men in the worst US coal mining disaster in 40 years.
