Witness Address Safety Problems at Blankenship Trial

During ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s trial, a former miner testified management required alerting underground miners when federal inspectors had arrived. In Charleston federal court Thursday, ex-Massey miner Bobbie Pauley said underground workers would stop mining and quickly attend to neglected safety problems. She said Blankenship himself didn’t tell her to make the warnings. Blankenship is charged with conspiring to break mine safety laws and lying to financial regulators about safety practices at the mine, which exploded in 2010, killing 29 miners.