quote:


Ultimately, the responsibility for the explosion at
the Upper Big Branch mine lies with the management of
Massey Energy. The company broke faith with its workers
by frequently and knowingly violating the law and
blatantly disregarding known safety practices while creating
a public perception that its operations exceeded
industry safety standards.

The story of Upper Big Branch is a cautionary
tale of hubris. A company that was a towering presence
in the Appalachian coalfields operated its mines in a
profoundly reckless manner, and 29 coal miners paid
with their lives for the corporate risk-taking.

The April 5, 2010, explosion was not something that happened
out of the blue, an event that could not have been anticipated
or prevented. It was, to the contrary, a completely
predictable result for a company that ignored
basic safety standards and put too much faith in its own
mythology.

-page 108