Donald Blankenship News

Massey CEO Who Served Jail Time Asks Trump to Resist Punishing Coal Execs

Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship asked President Donald Trump on Tuesday to resist attempts in Congress to enhance criminal penalties for coal executives who violate mine safety and health standards. Blankenship, who recently was freed from federal prison, also asked …

Jailed Coal CEO Wants Misdemeanor Overturned in Deadly Blast

Attorneys for Don Blankenship and the federal government are back in court this week as the former coal operator appeals his misdemeanor conviction in connection with the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades. Blankenship reported to a California federal …

Jail Appears Certain for Ex-Massey Energy CEO Bound as Appeal Denied

Former Massey Energy CEO Donald Blankenship is headed to prison even as he appeals his conviction for conspiring to flout mine-safety laws in connection with the worst U.S. coal industry disaster in almost 40 years. The federal appeals court in …

Blankenship Gets Year in Prison Over Mine Safety Conspiracy

Six years after 29 miners were killed in a West Virginia coal dust explosion, the man who ran the mining company like a fiefdom – a coal baron and power broker who earned millions of dollars a year – will …

Ex-Massey CEO Stays Mum as Defense Rests in Mine Blast Case

Former Massey Energy Chief Donald Blankenship won’t take the witness stand to explain what happened when a company mine exploded in 2010 killing 29 workers, choosing instead to leave his fate in the hands of jurors at his criminal trial …

Massey Adviser Says He Warned of Danger Months Before Upper Big Branch Blast

Former Massey Energy Co. Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship was warned about pervasive safety problems at his company’s mining operations 10 months before a fatal explosion killed 29 men, a retired government mine inspector told a West Virginia jury. Bill …

Massey Warning System Kept Miners a Step Ahead of Inspectors

Massey Energy executives used an advanced warning system at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine to alert workers as soon as federal inspectors arrived on site, a former miner testified Thursday at the criminal trial for ex-chief executive Donald Blankenship. …

Deadly Mine Explosion Trial Spotlights Massey’s King Coal

Before death came to Upper Big Branch Mine, Donald L. Blankenship managed his patch of Appalachia like King Coal incarnate. Outside homes in rural West Virginia flew the banner of his company, Massey Energy Co.: a flame leaping out of …