- I don’t know how you could have assembled a worse record than the record they have assembled in the last few years. It does not appear the culture has changed at Massey. That is most unfortunate.
- Davitt McAteer, chair of the West Virginia Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel • Speaking on his examination and report about the deadly explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine, under the ownership of Massey Energy. The full report, available here, is pretty damning — the subtitle of the report is, simply, “a failure of basic coal mine safety practices.” Said Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia: “This report tragically reinforces that the disaster that took the lives of 29 men at Upper Big Branch last year was absolutely preventable. That will always be one of the most painful facts about this explosion.” source