Massey Coal Report

A report by an independent team of investigators on last year's deadly coal mine disaster in West Virginia puts the blame squarely on Massey Energy, the mine's owner, according to the NY Times. The report says the company "made life difficult" for miners who tried to raise safety issues like accumulating coal dust.

The report used blunt language to describe what it said was a pattern of negligence that ultimately led to the deaths of 29 miners on April 5, 2010, in what was the worst American mining disaster in 40 years.

 "The story of Upper Big Branch is a cautionary tale of hubris," the report concluded. "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."

Company executives invoked their Fifth Amendment rights, and refused to be interviewed by investigators. 

Perhaps this report is one step along the road towards seeing justice done.