In my early days in the coal industry I worked near Cadiz, Ohio. Consolidation Coal had a large office there. Mandatory dust sampling had just become the law a few years before. Coal Mines were required to take dust samples from miners to see how much coal dust they were breathing. The samples were sent to the federal government for testing. One day I went to a mine and watched a technician putting samples up to his mouth and sucking the coal dust out backwards off the filters. I said "What are you doing?". The answer was "I am making sure these samples will pass". They had another trick. They would hang some dust pumps out in clear air where they would pick up a little coal dust, but not too much. These samples would be exchanged for the real ones.
One day the whole scheme blew up. Federal Marshalls with hand trucks went right into the vice presidents office as he sat at his desk. They immediately took all his file cabinets and every scrap of evidence they could find. The shit hit the fan. To be honest, I don't think he knew about or condoned what was going on, but it sure got his attention. When the Mine Health and Safety Administration sent the first coal mine foreman to prison the world changed.
If we want to stop killing coal miners needlessly, there is a simple elegant solution. Send Mr. Blankship from Massey Coal to prison. Of course he should get a trial, but I feel any reasonable jury will find him guilty of murder. The 14 million a year he gets will not mean much once he is in prison. It will send a very strong message through the coal fields. Wall Street could use a little dose of prison reality. After a few CEO's write back to their buddies how much fun prison sex is, you will see reforms on Wall Street taken on voluntarily. It would be so nice to know an ex CEO from Wall Street is being bent over in prison receiving the same treatment they gave the country.
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