Between the Lines Q&A

A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release May 26, 2010

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Legal Precedent Demands Massey CEO
Be Sent to Jail for Deaths of 29 Coal Miners

RealAudio MP3

Interview with Rena Steinzor,
professor at the University of Maryland Law School
and president of the Center for Progressive Reform,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

coalminers

The worst mining disaster in 40 years took place at a mine owned by Massey Energy in southern West Virginia, where 29 miners were killed on April 5. In just the past four years, Massey has been cited for more than 500 health and safety violations in its mines by federal inspectors who stated that 90 of them were deemed significant and due to the company's "reckless disregard" for the safety of its workers. Under CEO Don Blankenship, Massey has challenged almost every single violation, delaying implementation of necessary changes.

In the wake of the Massey mine explosion, the Obama administration has launched a civil investigation to better understand what happened and to put in place procedures to prevent a repeat of similar disasters in the future. The FBI is also conducting a criminal investigation.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Rena Steinzor, a professor at the University of Maryland law school and president of the Center for Progressive Reform, a "virtual thinktank" of 50 experts around the country who focus on issues of the environment, health and safety. She explains the precedents for holding company executives criminally liable in fatal accidents and why she supports prosecuting Don Blankenship personally for the deaths of the West Virginia miners. .

RENA STEINZOR: The criminal investigation of a mining disaster is relatively unusual. This company -- Massey Energy -- was investigated in the past at Aracoma and as I understand it, they were fined. But that's the company, not the people, the individuals. I think there is far too little criminal prosecution of executives, and that's a point I've been making as often as I can.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Under what circumstances could an executive of a company be held criminally liable for a fatal accident such as happened at the Upper Big Branch mine?

RENA STEINZOR: In the health safety and evn. area, there is a doctrine that was created bgy the Supreme Court. It's called the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine. And it says, in essence, that if you're in a posiation in a company to do something about a problem that is very dangerous, that could cause either extensive damage to the environment, or hurt people, then you can be held criminally liable, even if you didn't carry out the activities yourself -- if you were in a position to avoid or prevent the problem, you're criminally liable -- and that's a doctrine that is not used often enough.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Do you know of any examples where the head of a company was held criminally liable, and spent any time in prison?

RENA STEINZOR: First of all, the two Supreme Court cases I was discussing...one involved shipment of adulterated drugs. That was back in 1943. The second involved rodent infestation of a food warehouse. there also was a case in Maryland where civilian employees at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds buried hazardous waste on the property, and they were prosecuted criminally and did serve brief jail terms, I believe.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Rena Steinzor, Massey Energy, under Don Blankenship's leadership, has been cited for hundreds of serious health and safety violations. Do you think he's a good candidate for criminal prosecution?

RENA STEINZOR: Yes, I think Blankenship is a very tgood candidate for criminal prosecution because he created an atmosphere where workers were afraid that they would be fired if they paid attention to safety precautions. The mine was evacuated several times before the fatal explosion, and yet Blankenship refused -- despite this obvious indication that something was wrong -- he refused to address these problems. As you mentioned, he was cited hundreds -- thousands, if you go back far enough -- times for serious violations, serious problems, and fought every single one of them. This is not a company, under his leadership -- and he was personally involved in a lot of these episodes -- that has demonstrated any concern for workers' safety. And in my view, if you don't prosecute chief executive officers in those circumstances, you dilute the message, and you create a circumstance where the company will be given a monetary fine and will go back to its bad old ways, because too often the fine is not even the amount that they save by violating the law.

BETWEEN THE LINES: The FBI is doing the criminal investigation, but Joe Main, the new head of MSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, is also investigating the accident for the Obama administration. What kind of job do you think he's doing?

RENA STEINZOR: I think Joe Main is trying to make the best use he can of the resources he has, but MSHA is painfully underfunded, and has survived in a culture where the career people are badgered and dissuaded from doing an aggressive job. Too often we find that career civil servants have kind of a muscle memory of the Bush administration, and it takes a lot of aggressive leadership to change that perception. And I think the Obama appointees in these top jobs are trying very hard to change that culture. Unfortunately, they haven't yet received enough money to give their agencies the kind of muscle they need. And we're not talking about huge sums. We're talking about even tens of millions of dollars, which is a very small amount in comparison to the harm that's caused by these incidents. It would make them much more present -- they'd have more inspectors, they'd be more aggressive, they'd have better lawyers, and they'd clean up this industry a lot quicker.

Contact the Rena Steinzor of the Center for Progressive Reform at (410) 706-0564 or visit the group's website at www.progressivereform.org

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Melinda Tuhus is a executive producer of Between The Lines, which can be heard on more than 50 radio stations and in RealAudio and MP3 on our website at http://www.btlonline.org. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine, Between The Lines for the week ending June 4, 2010. This Between The Lines Q&A was compiled by Melinda Tuhus and Anna Manzo.

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