Byrd rips Massey Energy for refusing to fund a new school so students can move away from coal processing plant.
Byrd rips Massey Energy for refusing to fund a new school so students can move away from coal processing plant.
The Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia sits just 300 feet from a Massey Energy coal silo and “downhill from a slurry impoundment.” Massey’s plans to build a second silo are facing “protests from environmentalists and some residents over the threat of flood and claims that children are exposed to coal dust, among other things,” especially because the company is refusing to build a new school, away from the toxic chemicals. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) is taking Massey to task for its “disregard for human life and safety“:
“Such arrogance suggests a blatant disregard for the impact of their mining practices on our communities, residents and particularly our children,” Byrd said in a statement. “These are children’s lives we are talking about.” [...]
“If Massey were not operating near Marsh Fork Elementary, we would not be debating what to do about moving these young students someplace safer,” Byrd said. “This is not the taxpayers’ burden to remedy. This is Massey Energy’s responsibility to address.“
Massey has criticized Byrd’s comments, noting that the school district never asked the company for funding. (Regardless, Massey has said it has no interest in donating any money because it already “pays millions of dollars in taxes each year.”) Brad Johnson has more here on what Massey and the coal industry have really given West Virginia.
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Welcome back, Sen. Byrd!
In his…51 years in the Senate, he’s never been particularly cozy with the coal industry and now, more than ever, he’s doign the right thing by taking them to task for endangering the health of his constituents. Here’s hoping the nonogenarian senator stays healthy and active.
We need his support on healthcare and climate change.
October 9th, 2009 at 3:56 pmMassey…. Massey… where have I heard that name before?
Oh yeah! They’re the ones who bought themselves a judge.
Knew it sounded familiar.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:01 pmEnvironmental abuses for profits will never willingly modify their practices if it means losing one cent of possible profit. These people use land and people in any way they can to put dollars in their pockets. They simply do not care about anything else.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:04 pmTake ‘em to the mat, Sen. Byrd.
Something has to be done about these coal companies. We are seeing the fruits of their industry, and there is bad along with the good.
Of course, some of the bad is CO2 and pollution, but this is about so much more than climate change.
Personally, I don’t think that an appropriate trade-off for inexpensive electricity (and coal does help in costs…Kentucky has some of the lowest power in the country thanks to coal) is ignoring the FACT that those that live in areas where they are exposed to slurry are developing fatal cancers at an amazing clip and at an early age.
Watch what’s happening in Boone County, WV right now. It’s heartbreaking. The following is a two-part news story that aired on our local news a couple of days ago.
http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/091006_42.shtml
October 9th, 2009 at 4:04 pmhttp://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/091007_47.shtml
Is the CEO trying to use his Dark Jedi powers to influence our thoughts through that picture?
I always love how the right wing trumpets about the right to life, until it gets in the way of making money, then to hell with the children….
October 9th, 2009 at 4:04 pmSorry, make that a three-parter.
http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/091008_53.shtml
If they air another one tonight, I’ll post it this evening.
Everyone needs to know about this.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:06 pmOther plans include Massey blowing the top off the school, just like they do with mountains.
Blankenshit was quoted as saying, ‘Hey! We’re just trying to get some fresh air in there.’
October 9th, 2009 at 4:07 pm.
Another Corporation willing to trade human health for profits.
.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:12 pmWest Virginia (where I grew up and where my miner grandpa died of emphysema in the UMW hospital) will never take control of the coal barons until the people resolve to actually DO IT! I love ‘em but they want to take the jobs with one hand and swat ineffectively at the coal empires with the other.
God Bless Senator Byrd, and I hope he gets them to do it, but wanna bet the dealmaker turns out to be some of those EPA mountaintop stripping permits they just decided to review? Just watch….
October 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pmWhose wasting time voting on Murphis?… That shit doesn’t even warrant acknowledgment
October 9th, 2009 at 4:20 pmRalph,
Thanks for that link at #2.
That’s some scary shit.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:23 pmRoberts, Alito & Scalia will haunt progressives for decades.
Hey, it’s just American Capitalism at work…
….and besides, those kids are already born.
(snarkity, snark, snark)
October 9th, 2009 at 4:27 pmAnyone want to note that the land of the “Love Canal” was a toxic dump that was converted for use as (among other things) a ballfield and school ?
October 9th, 2009 at 4:31 pmOh, were we talking about THIS
October 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pmMassey Valley Fill Disaster
Lyburn, WV Massey Coal ??
Or, was it THIS
October 9th, 2009 at 4:49 pmThe Martin County Coal Mine slurry spill and the Bush cover-up of an environmental disaster
Massey Coal??
I have to ask, was the school or the mine there first? If the mine was first then whoever decided to build a school there….well…..
If the school was there first then whoever allowed the mining…..well…..
Unless they can absolutely without fail guarantee they will not pollute the air, water or have any other detriment to the school then the mine should pay for the school to be moved. That or the mine should move their site. Doesn’t it have to get planning permission? are there no regulations at all?
October 9th, 2009 at 4:54 pmByrd has a lot of influence in local and national politics so I don’t understand why Massey would engage in a battle with Byrd. This will only draw more attention to Massey and the publicity will all be bad.
October 9th, 2009 at 5:07 pmMassey is a publicly traded coal company with one supreme cause: to enhance shareholder value. You know, the shareholders, the owners of the company. Was Byrd’s idea put on the proxy ballot for shareholders to vote on? If Byrd believes Massey is required to build the school, time to take the company to court and see what a jury has to say about it.
October 9th, 2009 at 5:25 pmAll of the above… watch and see how those permits fall in place now…
October 9th, 2009 at 5:52 pmHere’s a video shot over the 4th of July at a picnic in West Virginia where the Massey thugs show-up and start threatning and cussing everyone at the picnic:
October 9th, 2009 at 5:59 pmhuffingtonpost.com/dave-cooper/west-virginia-coal-thugs_b_thugs_226979.html
Murphis
You worthless ignorant brainwashed pile of garbage. Go pour yourself a nice steaming hot cup of STFU
October 9th, 2009 at 6:21 pmMr Duke
Yes we all know how sacred money is to you soulless Ebenezer Srooge worshipping sub humans. Money is your GOD and if a whole bunch of children end up DEAD because a toxic slurry burries them that is just the cost of maintaining the sacred profits. Then when it happens Massey will just declare bankrupcy and assure that they get out of their obligations THAT way. And the most selfish heartless people who ever lived like YOU will applaud that too
October 9th, 2009 at 6:25 pm17. Nigel,
Good question. When I was working for a state environmental agency, a situtaion came up where the school board obtained cheap, undeveloped land for building an elementary school. We wrote a letter to them noting that the land was a superfund site. (Although a lot had been cleaned up, some environmental sampling was needed to prove the land was OK).
The board went ahead and built the school. Fortunately, the sampling after construction was OK. But why in the world did they initially go ahead and build a rather expensive school without knowing for sure. And this school was for a rather upper class area. Wonder what they would have done for the poor folk.
October 9th, 2009 at 6:46 pmWell, I suppose we should thank the troll for honesty. A simple admission that killing people is cool as long as the dividend checks clear says much about the Reichwhiners.
October 9th, 2009 at 7:09 pmNigel
In a poor area they wouldnt have tested. IF the test had been positive they would have bussed poor kids to the new school.
October 9th, 2009 at 7:30 pmThe picture of Blankenship should have a caption below it saying, “Talk to the hand!”
October 9th, 2009 at 7:41 pmMassey Coal already pays millions in taxes, so they should be allowed to kill as many people as they wish. After all, they’re only people. Now, if they were mules, then, that would get expensive. (research Mother Jones, replacing mules versus replacing miners.)
October 10th, 2009 at 12:23 amIf the kids were still fetuses, then they would worry. Since they are born already, not so much.
October 10th, 2009 at 3:07 pmCertainly from our standpoint, this gives us a sense of momentum. bacak germe estetigi
October 15th, 2009 at 5:29 am