Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets behind Big Coal

On April 5, 2010, an explosion ripped through Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine, killing twenty—nine coal miners. This tragedy was the deadliest mine disaster in the United States in forty years—a disaster that never should have happened. These deaths were rooted in the cynical corporate culture of Massey and its notorious former CEO Don Blankenship, and were part of an endless cycle of poverty, exploitation, and environmental abuse that has dominated ...