Massey Energy just issued a response to Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s strongly worded statement yesterday, in which Byrd said Massey’s unwillingness to help fund the relocation of Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County away from a Massey coal processing plant and slurry impoundment showed:
… Blatant disregard for the impact of their mining practices on our communities, residents and particularly our children.
Massey’s statement said:
We were surprised by Senator Byrd’s comments. Had Senator Byrd contacted us to formally discuss Marsh Fork Elementary, we would have told him that Massey has not been approached by the Raleigh County School Board about possible assistance to fund a new school. Only the press has made such inquiries.
The statement rattled off a long list of reasons Massey believes the slurry impoundment up the hollow from Marsh Fork Elementary is safe, and concluded:
The most upsetting comments from Senator Byrd were those regarding our alleged blatant disregard for human life and safety because of greed. We work every day to ensure the safety of our miners and we are committed to improving the quality of life in the communities where our members live and work.
I’ve posted a copy of the company’s entire statement here.
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ken ward,i’ve read the posts from 2005 about goals being fined for the erosion to the slurry pond in question,but i cannot find if they have been fined since then,can you help?
rwc,
WVDEP and MSHA both inspect slurry impoundments, and you can look up some very basic information about those inspections on their websites. I don’ t have time right now to provide a detailed tutorial on that.
But, the most recent fine I see is from April 2009, when Massey paid a fine of $807 for a violation of 77.216(d), which requires design, construction and maintenance of slurry impoundments to be in accordance with a plan submitted by MSHA. That regulation is available here:
http://www.msha.gov/30CFR/77.216.htm
That’s the most recent fine that I can readily identify that can easily be linked to the impoundment at Goals Coal. There may be others that would require more investigation to identify.
Ken.
Maybe if Senator Byrd would move from Virginia to a community actually in West Virginia, he would have a better understanding of what is actually happening in West Virginia. I guess he thinks thinks he can take it all in gazing from the porch on his home in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.
Setting aside the “right vs. wrong” aspects of this issue for the moment, the political reality is that the coal industry is currently engaged in a titanic struggle that will dictate their role in the energy mix for the foreseeable future.
The days are long gone when the sole determining factor for energy was which source was the cheapest fuel to extract, prepare, deliver, and convert to energy. Health, social, environmental, and climate impacts also have very real costs and are now an important part of the decision making process.
And ultimately, like any other issue in this country and most of the world, it all comes down to public opinion and votes. It is this reality that Massey appears to be oblivious to in this case.
Coal’s strength has always been how inexpensive it was based on the old method of accounting: abundant, energy rich, and comparatively cheap to extract, prepare, deliver, and convert to electricity.
But today’s accounting includes the costs associated with acid rain, mercury deposition, acid mine drainage, subsidence, groundwater depletion and contamination, greenhouse gas contribution, fly ash and slurry management, coalfield and power plant health impacts, and coal miner safety considerations, just to name a few factors traditionally given short shrift that today have real dollar costs associated with them.
The current MTR permit scenario is just the latest example of the public, via government, taking a harder look at coal. The years to come will be extremely volatile on the energy front as considerations including but not at all limited to those listed above combine with emerging new energy technologies, demand, and dwindling finite fossil fuel resources to dictate new energy strategies.
Energy policy is very high on the national and global priority list, and it is the national and global market, not WV coalfield citizens, that will dictate the future of coal.
It is on this massive stage, under a blinding spotlight, that Massey has chosen to say “not our problem” to this school relocation. They can argue about tax contributions, quibble about marker locations, and stand behind their lawyers all they want. Those tactics MIGHT work locally, if company support is shown to outweigh parental and community concerns.
But outside Raleigh County, this is just one more black mark on an industry often perceived to care little about anything more than money in their own pockets. That may or may not be a fair judgment, but now more than ever public perception is a critical component with so much at stake.
Would Massey building a new elementary school assure the future of coal? Probably not. But publicly turning their back on the issue is yet one more factor hastening the demise of an industry whose real costs are becoming more and more apparent.
Whatever the moral and legal aspects of Massey’s position, at the end of the day, this is a poor business decision.
Great post, Dave.
I agree, if Massey were making good business decisions, they’ be jumping at the chance to build a new school. It would be the best PR–for a company desperate for good PR– money could possibly buy.
jd1smith needs to get his facts straight before posting. Sen. Byrd actually moved from North Carolina (not Virginia) as a toddler to a small community in Mercer Co. for brief period before his adoptive family moved on to Stotesbury outside of Sophia. That’s in Raleigh Co. about 60 miles south of Charleston. I grew up in Sophia. As an adult he had a butcher shop in Sophia – my aunt played with his daughters. Lots of eyewitnesses still alive can attest to the fact he lived in Sophia. Maybe Mr. Smith should do a quick Google before posting in the future.
thank you ken,i do apprciate your help
Penny B.-
I must preface this by saying I am no great fan of Sen. Byrd.
I think what jd1smith was referring to was Byrd’s current residence, not his past one.
Nevertheless, jd1smith, where else would you expect a U.S. Senator of his stature to live but in the D.C. Metropolitan area which does include Berkeley and Jefferson Counties of WV?
Does anyone know how deep the water is behind that dam. I read that theres something like 2.2 billion gallon. that doesnt tell me much. How many acre feet are there. The dam in the picture above looks more than enough to hold back the amount of water in the picture. Summersville lake is thinner at the top and it holds back something like 9 trillion gallon. Of course it has a concrete and clay core.
I would like to thank Dave Bassage for his spot on comments.
Right, wrong, or being fair is not the focal point here, it is the public perception that is key to current energy markets.
Thank you for your comments Mr. Bassage. I totally agree, but let me add that local coafield residents can shine the spotlight on the “true cost of coal”.
I would like to say that Massey cannot use the ” we was not asked line”. The story started with the Raleigh County Board of Education publicly ( Beckley newspaper) stating a desire for Massey to help build a new school to which Jeff Gillenwater- Massey spokesperson- said that– No Massey won’t help- Massey already pays taxes to Raleigh Schools- exactly $5 million- the price tag of a new school.
To Massey,
The environmental and local community has been asking for a new school for a long time. Where does it say in the rules that only a legislator can ask, and only in private backroom negotiations? The Senator is merely repeating the concerns and wishes of his constituency.