Photo by Antrim Caskey
During Monday’s big dueling mountaintop removal demonstrations here in Charleston, a couple of coal truck drivers spent a lot of time circling the block, blaring their horns to try to drown out speeches by environmentalists they disagree with.
If you look very closely at the photo above of one of those trucks, you’ll see its from a company called Medford Trucking. When I saw that name, I knew I had heard it before … and here’s why:
Back on Feb.6, one of Medford’s workers, 70-year-old William Wade of Charleston, was killed when he lost control of his truck on the downhill portion of the Cabin Creek haulroad at Massey Energy’s Republic Energy Surface Mine along the Kanawha-Fayette County line.
After the death, both state and federal investigators cited Medford for workplace safety violations they said caused or contributed to Wade’s death.
As Coal Tattoo previously reported, the West Virginia Office of Miners Health Safety and Training concluded that:
Medford Trucking was not doing pre-shift safety checks of the truck, and the truck’s service brake air supply reservoir “had been purposely bypassed, therefore reducing the volume of air available for braking,” state investigators found. Also, investigators found that four of six brake drums were worn beyond the manufacturer’s wear limits.
According to that state report:
Shortly before 9 a.m., Wade began driving down the grade and passed an empty coal truck. The driver of that truck said Wade appeared to be in full control of his vehicle when the two passed. But as the other driver continued up the hill, he heard Wade on the CB radio saying he was “having problems with his truck.” Then, Wade radioed that he “was losing his engine and having brake problems.”
Wade then told another driver who was just starting up the hill in the other direction to “get out of the way,” according to one witness. Another witness saw Wade’s truck go to the left side of the road and “abruptly climb approximately 16 feet up the steep embankment beside the roadway and overturn,” according to the state report. Coworkers discovered Wade pinned beneath the truck’s cab. The truck was lifted off him, and he was taken to a Charleston hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:38 a.m.
In a separate report, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration concluded:
This accident occurred because (1) the trailer brakes failed to operate effectively, (2) the contractor failed to provide an effective safety program for the pre-shift inspection to identify unsafe conditions, and (3) the victim had not received new miner training.
MSHA cited Medford with four violations concerning the unsafe condition of the truck, the lack of proper training, and an inadequate pre-shift examination of the truck. Among other things, MSHA’s report said:
When tested, all six of the trailer service brakes were not effective due to over stroke or defective brake chambers. Four of the six brake drums on the trailer were measured to be worn beyond the wear limits recommended by the drum manufacturer.
And:
An adequate pre-shift inspection was not performed on the Kenworth Coal Truck, Company Number 21, operating on the mine property, prior to placing the truck into operation. An adequate inspection would have revealed that six trailer brakes were ineffective.
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Ken,
There were more than a couple of trucks. At one point I counted five in a row, circling back and forth, all blaring their horns. Why they were not cited for disturbing the peace, or at least warned, I do not know. Doesn’t Charleston at have a cruising ordnance?
[...] Blogs @ The Charleston Gazette – » About those coal trucks that made all that noise … blogs.wvgazette.com – view page – cached During Monday’s big dueling mountaintop removal demonstrations here in Charleston, a couple of coal truck drivers spent a lot of time circling the block, blaring their horns to try to drown out… Read moreDuring Monday’s big dueling mountaintop removal demonstrations here in Charleston, a couple of coal truck drivers spent a lot of time circling the block, blaring their horns to try to drown out speeches by environmentalists they disagree with. View page [...]
Ken, what does one issue have to do with the other?? Making that stretch, do you think any of the environmental protestors in the crowd had a criminal record. Why don’t we discuss that?
Concerned Miner. Has it ever occurred to you that the coal industry always contracts to the lowest bidder? Many private coal truck owners have been forced out of business simply because they took pride in their equipment and respected the laws of the state of WV and MSHA by keeping their trucks maintained and safe for not only themselves, but also the citizen driving down the road. They operated in the spirit of the law, something of which the coal industry does not. Company’s such as Medford take shortcuts because they are beholden to the coal industry, haul for little and work a ton of hours to make up the difference, keeping their trucks on the road hauling unless they are ordered to wash that truck quickly and get over to the DEP to blast their horns at American citizens exercising their first amendment rights in the spirit of democracy, in the face of an industry that has controlled and plundered our state for the past 100 years. People are fed up with coal abuses. Some people go along with the abuse because they feel as though they have no choice other than to go along with it; much like the “Battered Woman’s Syndrome”.
I know a lot of truck drivers and if anything, Bo, I’d say the company had to “order” them to NOT show up in Charleston. That’s why there were only 4 of 5 trucks. Besides, you did not answer Concerned Miner’s obvious question, what does Medford’s safety record have to do with their presence at the protest?
Well, for one, the environmentalists activity that day was legal and the truck drivers activity was not.
FYI, a GAO report posted today about mountaintop mining in KY and WV: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1021.pdf
That still has absolutely nothing to do with an unfotunate accident that happened in the past. Try again.
Besides, since when are environmentalist concerned with the legality of a protest?
What does Medford’s safety record have to do with their presence at the protest? Lots.
Medford is hardly a disinterested party–they could well have a major conflict of interest.
If they’re running shoddy operations (major disclaimer!! **IF**, I don’t know one way or the other), and they put profits over people and they pay little or no attention to safety considerations, then they naturally would be against any attempt to encourage stricter enforcement of existing laws.
If they were a company that was running a “tight ship,” they might be happy to see strict enforcement of existing regulations. In some regulated industries, believe it or not, well run firms see adherence *over and above* mandated standards as a competitive advantage and something to be proud of.
As to environmentalists being concerned with the legality of a protest, there is a big difference between civil disobedience–expecting to be arrested to draw attention to a moral wrong–and trying to drown out protected free speech.
Also, it is quite a legitimate question to ask why there is selective enforcement of ordinances. This is at least twice recently–the other being the Army Corp of Engineer hearings–that police in Charleston looked the other way when “pro-coal” protesters were the ones causing trouble.
I think the question here is not on the legality of the actions at hand but why those who choose to engage in peaceful civil disobedience against mountaintop removal are prosecuted to the utmost extent of the law, often with extraneous charges, or are slapped with hefty civil suits while trucks that pose a threat to public safety, or seething riotous orange-striped mobs at Army Corps hearings are given a free pass by law enforcement.
We all do what we believe in, and that is as it should be, but not all of us take responsibility for our actions.
Actually there was 9 coal trucks (when Kennedy spoke) in the area that day, running wild and blaring their horns.
When we environmentalists rallied that day, we had a legal permit. The loud horns of the coal truck drivers was deliberate and distracted other drivers there in Kanawha City. The noise was offensive to the ears, dangerous to other drivers and near Highland Hospital.
When we engage in non violent civil disobedience the idea is based upon using a lessor illegal activity to stop a dangerous activity.
The point is, we are concerned with the outlaw attitude that some in the coal trucking industry have. Back in 2001-02, when it was pointed out to the coal trucking industry that they were breaking the laws when hauling 180,000 lbs as compared to the legal limit of 65,000 lbs, their response was ” so what, we’ve been breaking the law for 30 years”, so just change the law .
This is the general attitude for some in the coal industry.
The industry ignored the fact that the stopping/breaking distance with the higher weight being hauled was greatly increased and some innocent people lost their lives. We did get some relief with legislation and enforcement in 2003.
It is the attitude of the drivers (and owners), combined with the size of these huge trucks that really concerns us for the safety of people, that is the point.
Well said Judy!
Was not the blaring of the horns civil disobedience. Was it not non violent. You enviromentalists need to practice what you preach.
No defense for bringing up the coal truck drivers death, as I expected. However some of the replys do shed some light on an issue that most native WV’s who are on the fence regarding this debate don’t understand. You notice how quickly the topic turns away from MTR to just plain bashing the entire coal industry. When talking to some locals regarding the MTR issue most who are against MTR quickly say they support other methods of mining coal. One day when the anti MTR movement has accomplished their real goal of no coal production, we native WV’s will be standing around wondering what happened to our way of life and the leaders of the anti coal movement will have moved on to other causes like driving spikes into trees to stop logging or stopping wind energy because it kills bats. (As discussed in today’s paper).
Concerned Miner,
Oh I don’t know, I think Ken’s point is valid. Just like it is valid when I mention that Mr. Kennedy the Key Note speaker at the event was introduced to environmental activism while doing community service for Riverkeepers after his heroin arrest in 1984.( source – Wikipedia)
It is the attitude of the drivers (and owners), combined with the size of these huge trucks that really concerns us for the safety of people, that is the point. Judy Bonds,I would have agreed with you in the past,but since I have driven a coal truck,I can’t.I have had more people pull out in front,cut me off,pass me up in curves,and do some of the dumbest things that you’d actually think people had the common sense not to do.Ken Ward,again it’s the tit for tat.Like I’ve said before,one sided,all bad and it sells.Report the good for once,and tell the whole truth.
Readers,
Why is this worth a blog post?
A couple of reasons …
First, the pro-coal portion of this rally was aimed at protecting workers — protecting their jobs from the supposed “war on coal” being waged by environmentalists and the Obama administration. If folks are out there talking about how much they care about coal miners, it’s worth examining the record of those companies involved to see if they really do all they can to protect what the federal mine safety law calls the industry’s “most precious resource” — the miner.
Second, it is indeed important to look at all aspects of the coal-mining industry. That’s the whole point of Coal Tattoo, and why I started this blog in the first place. The so-called “cheap” electricity that we get from coal is cheap only because so many of the costs are hidden from most of the general public.
Who pays the largest share of those costs? Easy to answer: It’s the families of coal miners who die on the job — and the families of 10,000 coal miners who have died in the last decade from black lung disease.
I’m not sure what the criminal records of any of the protesters have to do with this … perhaps that is relevant if they were arrested for protesting. But I’m not sure even that really is that important.
The reason looking at this terrible mining death — and the safety violations that investigators say caused it — is relevant is that it goes to the heart of the argument being made by those protesting in favor of coal at this event: That is, it’s worth asking — if Massey or, in this case, its contractor, care that much about workers, why did they not follow the safety rules that might have saved this miner’s life?
Whether or not Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was arrested for drug possession more than 20 years ago ( see this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy,_Jr.#Criminal_record ) really doesn’t undercut his argument at the rally — that mountaintop removal is damaging communities and the environment. Perhaps one could make an argument that the arrest says something about his character. But it doesn’t say anything at all about the issues he discusses regarding the coal industry.
Ken.
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I would like to say that blaring the horns was distracting other drivers, creating a huge disturbance and I certainly consider that violent.
Certainly drivers that cut in front of coal trucks are flirting with disaster but there is no denying that a huge heavy load is hard to handle, control and stopping distance is important. But the facts remain that the actions of the coal truck drivers on Monday was not to make a living but to disrupt, distract and drown out those exercising their First Amendment Rights.
The people that were also driving on the same road was subjected to more danger.
Mr. Ward claims that Mr. Kennedy’s criminal history has no bearing on his argument and he is right. But I wonder, how committed to that argument is Mr. Kennedy?
Many opposed to MTR mining vilify coal companies and their employees for placing their jobs and profits above the environment and while they may be correct, it seems to me Mr. Kennedy is cut from the same cloth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/opinion/16kennedy.html
rwc,
People pull out in front of my vehicle, pass me in curves too- it is just not you truck drivers, but there is a law called “maintaining control of your vehicle” that we all abide by. So if you drive a truck that takes longer to stop or is harder to handle – please slow down and take that into consideration.
The biggest complaints on the coal truck hot line is “speeding”. I know it is not always the coal truck drivers fault, but we all have to deal with reckless drivers.
:That is, it’s worth asking — if Massey or, in this case, its contractor, care that much about workers, why did they not follow the safety rules that might have saved this miner’s life? Ken Ward, not trying to stir this up again,but i’ve driven trucks on and off for the past 15 years and the last 4 years driving a coal truck until it became a dangerous situation between the company and I worked for.The driver is responible for pre-trip and post-trip inspections on his truck everyday he drives it.It is the driver’s responsibility to note the defects and if the defects are bad enough to warrant going to them and refusing to drive the truck.This is why I did quit them.Even though Medford was partially to blame,the driver took his own life at risk and other driver’s along with it.This could have been worse and it could have been better,but to sit back and blame the company for the entirity of the situation is just plain wrong.To use it to the extent you have,and done so on several occassions is wrong on your part, also.
rwc,
Just one problem with your analysis … the federal mine safety law is a strict liability statute … so legally, any violations — even if they were a worker not performing a pre-shift safety check — are the responsibility of the operator.
Ken.
Bo Webb can you name the trucking companies that have gone out of business because they kept their trucks in tip top shape and to the letter of the law? It seems a little odd that these companies would go out of business before the rogue companies. If you keep your truck in good shape you will haul more because of reliability. You won’t owe the State or Federal agencies because of citations. You won’t spend your profit on parts that will cost downtime that in turn causes less loads hauled hence less money made. Not convinced at all that a company would go out of business becaue they followed the(spirit of the law). Trucking is a tough, tough business and you can hit or miss on any day of the week. Those guys out there doing it will tell you that. I would applaud anyone that would live life with that type conviction, but these people have put everything they have on the line and they have their homes and families to care for. I just don’t think so.
Steve, I didn’t say any “companies” had gone out of business. I said “private coal truck owners” as in “self- employed”. And I won’t name any because of their right to privacy. You no doubt know a few of them too.
“Has it ever occurred to you that the coal industry always contracts to the lowest bidder? “Bo Webb,have you ever considered that this is standard practice with the majority of any business,including state and federal contracts.”keeping their trucks on the road hauling unless they are ordered to wash that truck quickly and get over to the DEP to blast their horns at American citizens exercising their first amendment rights in the spirit of democracy” which may be true and then again these people are fighting to keep a decent paying job.maybe not the best in the world,but i haven’t seen any jobs coming into this state to replace these jobs.I’ve gone through the USMC and worked my way into driving a coal truck.I’ve seen some of these people you describe,the lone owner of a truck go out of business,but not just due to the reasons that you say.Some have gone out and put themselves into “new “trucks,only to lose out when they can’t afford that high payment.I’m not saying you aren’t right to some degree,but to lay blame on the likes of Medford and other big companies for all of it,no that’s wrong.Medford consists of their own trucks coupled with the majority of owners leased to them.Did the owners of Medford have their employees come in that day to wash their trucks just to showboat at the DEP office,maybe,but as I stated they are fighting to keep their jobs too.Also consider this,they used airhorns where others used amplifiers,microphones,and loudspeakers.They were there to have their voices,or in this case,horns heard.
[...] Coal Tattoo reader is already citing this story as proof that environmentalists want to end all energy production and have us all — [...]
I own two coal trucks leased to Medford and I would have sent my trucks to Charleston if I had known. Medford is a good company to work for and WE DO keep your lights on people, like it or not. Leave our state if you don’t like it. Go back to where ever your come from. Coal is our heritage and our future. To bad we don’t have spotted owl here and a season to harvest them…hum