Massey Energy (Alpha Natural Resources) to pay largest settlement in Blast that Killed 29 Workers

Just to follow up on a matter that I had posted about a while back, Alpha Natural Resources, which took over Massey Energy, will be paying $209 million in civil penalties and restitution as a result of the mine explosion that killed 29 men.

Although this is a record settlement, the systematic and pervasive violation of mining regulations is probably not going to be handled by monetary penalties alone. Unfortunately, it seems that businesses consider the price of getting around regulations, via fines, lobbyists to undo regulations, and the deaths of workers, as being a part of the overhead of doing business. Some say only criminal penalties will be sufficient to persuade the industry to change its ways:

Under the federal mine act, safety violations, with the exception of falsifying records, are categorized as misdemeanors. That limitation that could make it hard to build a case against senior managers, like Don Blankenship, the former chief executive of Massey, lawyers said.



In all, 18 Massey executives have refused to be interviewed by federal investigators, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights.


“Until someone goes to jail, there will be no justice done here,” said Cecil E. Roberts, president of United Mine Workers of America International.

I'm highlighting this story in part because it serves as an example of the ways in which businesses don't even follow such regulations as actually exist, even in the face of severe financial civil penalties. This is a far cry from any suggestion that in the vein of enlightened self-interest, such industries would ever self-regulate.   In the absence of regulation, I only suspect things would be worse,  and am therefore very leery of politicians who imply otherwise.