The Analysis Of The Documentary "Blood On The Mountain"
This documentary as a whole really hit way closer to home than I would have ever imagined. Considering I was born and raised in the very hills it takes places in, I knew about many of the things discussed in the film already. I remember being in the sixth grade and sitting on my twin-sized bed, watching the events of Upper Big Branch unravel on the local news. I remember for the first time realizing that all of those men were someone’s brother, father, uncle, nephew, son, and grandson. Ever since then, I have lived in fear of the day when I am in the shoes of those family members, receiving that devastating phone call that my father, a life-long coal miner and now electrician for the mines, was in some accident at his work. My father is just barely 44 years old and has already had a full hip replacement due to the harsh work conditions he faces in the mines.
Overall, just hearing what was said in the documentary made it feel less like a film about some place I am not familiar with and more like talking to someone from home. Forgive me for being slightly biased, but the most surprising thing about the documentary was learning more about what a cruel man Don Blankenship is. I have always heard his name thrown around as a buzz word my whole life, but until Upper Big Branch happened, I knew very little about him. It is so shocking how negligent he was to his mines and the utter disregard for human life he displayed in favor of profits for him. His large mansion that overlooks South Williamson, KY in Pike County, which is now either abandoned or sold, is a reminder of the way he just tried to cover everything up and run once he realized he was in trouble.
One of Don Blankenship’s Massey Energy mines was responsible for the environmental disaster which devastated my home, Martin County, KY, on October 11, 2000, when millions of gallons of toxic coal slurry poured into the Coldwater Fork and Wolf Creek and forever poisoned our water supplies. Today, Martin County’s water district is the poorest in the state and faces total shutdown any day now. Something about this documentary strengthened a fire in me that has been burning for a while now. It is probably one of the most inspiring and motivating things I have seen in quite some time. I have such a desire to fight and advocate for my home, much like the people who made this documentary are doing.
The biggest takeaway point from this documentary that I gathered was the way that these coal companies are able to get away with these atrocious crimes with little to no reparations to those they harmed. When I found out that Don Blankenship only faced 1 year in prison after allowing the 29 men to perish at Upper Big Branch, I was so furious and sad for my home. I also felt the same pain when learning from this documentary that Patriot Coal had filed bankruptcy for a second time, and that those workers still had not received their pensions and healthcare.
More than anything, though, I was angry that Gary Southern and Freedom Industries got away with poisoning the water supplies of thousands of West Virginians by paying a simple $20,000 fine and serving barely a month in prison. As someone who knows directly how horrible it can be to deal with the direct impacts of coal mining and have no one to blame for it, I cannot fathom how helpless those citizens in and around Charleston felt. This all just goes to show that the government is still as a whole on the side of the coal companies rather than the workers that operate the mines. Coal miners and advocates today are still fighting very similar fight to the one their ancestors fought at Blair Mountain all those years ago.
Coal was seen by many during the early days as the industry that would revolutionize America, and in many ways, that was true. In those times, coal was abundant in the hills of Appalachia. It was also very cheap and was a useful solution to many problems that industrialized America faced. As the industry moved into Appalachia in the late 1800s, coal companies began to use the isolation and rural nature of the mountains to their advantage.
The documentary describes the coal miners as serfs working for the mines, because the company owned every aspect of their lives: their property, homes, and the company scrip they used to make purchase at the camp store. The coal mines gained control over the culture and even local politics of Appalachia, especially in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. Many of the miners and their families faced an abuse of power by mine guards who would physically harm people in the camp, knowing well that the miners and their families had no choice but to just deal with it. This was one of the key factors that led to the Battle of Blair Mountain.
After a list of demands sent to the West Virginia governor were subsequently ignored, approximately 10,000 miners marched on Logan, WV at the end of August in 1921. These miners were armed and refused to leave until their demands were met. Eventually, martial law was declared, and federal forces moved in to smother the revolution. This was one of the many instances where the government sided with corporations rather than the simple working man. Hundreds of people were killed during this uprising, and many more were arrested. This was the first of many fights to be had involving the coal industry.
At the outset of the Great Depression, a project was proposed at Hawk’s Nest, WV to build a large tunnel. After piercing the surface, it was discovered that these hills were absolutely full of the mineral silica, which is extremely debilitating if inhaled in large amounts. If workers inhaled too much of the silica dust, they came down with a disease known as silicosis, which is a build-up of silica dust in the lungs. The miners were given no safety equipment to prevent inhaling the dust. Many men collapsed on the job and had to be carted out of the mines.
Many of the victims and their families felt as if the mine companies truly did not care if they died on the job, since the workers were so easily replaced. They would rather maximize profit than show any concern for human safety. Overall, approximately 764 workers died as a result of the operations at Hawk’s Nest, all of which were buried in unmarked graves. Most of these workers were migrant African-Americans. This incident was one of the earliest of its kind to show the true safety horrors that miners faced just going to work each day.
More often than not, average people and hard working families are left to pay for the mistakes and neglect of coal companies. In 1972, an impoundment containing a large coal slurry pond by the Pittston Coal Company failed, releasing approximately 125 million gallons of toxic coal slurry in what is now known as the Buffalo Creek disaster in Logan County, West Virginia. 17 different communities along the Buffalo Creek valley were totally destroyed. 125 people were killed, 1,121 were left injured, and over 4,000 people were left homeless after this tragedy.
People immediately began to accuse Pittston Coal of gross negligence regarding the sturdiness of the wall containing the coal slurry. They were also criticized for failing to notify the towns downstream that the coal slurry pond even existed. West Virginia governor Arch Moore was also criticized for seemingly brushing these issues under the rug. Moore later pled guilty in 1991 to accepting $573,000 dollars from coal operators during his time in office, further cementing the idea that he was certainly on the side of the coal executives and not the citizens of West Virginia and Buffalo Creek.
Mr. Don Blankenship is best known for his role as chairman and CEO of Massey Energy, having taken office in 2000. Massey Energy was already infamous among coal companies for having started a campaign against the workers’ union along the Kentucky-West Virginia border in 1984. Blankenship’s ownership of a company with a viewpoint like that certainly speaks volumes about the man he would later become. An estimated 52 people died in Massey Energy mines while Blankenship was CEO. The most infamous incident at any Massey Energy mine took place on April 5, 2010, when 29 miners were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine near Montcoal, West Virginia.
The cause of the explosion was cited as poor ventilation systems that allowed explosive gases to build up underground. Blankenship had been criticized and told to put the ventilation systems at the mine up to mine safety standards for years, but he refused, for fear of losing money. In 2015, Don Blankenship was convicted of conspiring to violate mine safety laws, and was sentenced to one year in prison. Perhaps the most tragic part of this disaster was the fact that mine safety laws faced little to no changes after the disaster at Upper Big Branch. These standards continue to put miners at risk even to this day.
Coal has made significant impacts on the workers who mine it since the earliest days of the industry. As seen from the tragedy at Hawk’s Nest, a lack of proper safety equipment and standards in the mine led to many different injuries and illnesses in the workers. Coal mining was known to be a laborious industry that often put too much physical strain on the average human body. The most infamous disease to come from the coal industry was, without a doubt, black lung. This disease is a build-up of a coal dust in a worker’s lungs that prevents them from breathing properly and can eventually kill them. Advocacy for awareness of this disease really picked up in the late 1960s and 70s, when the vice grip of black lung had already claimed many victims. Coal companies were often criticized for not spreading awareness for this disease.
Many believed that this was due to the possible increase in healthcare costs in order for workers to be treated. Among the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), workers wanted to see more democracy among its ranks, which did not set well with then-President Tony Boyle. Workers criticized Boyle for siding more with coal corporations rather than the workers of his own union. In fear of losing re-election for President of the UMWA, Tony Boyle had his opponent, Joseph Yablonski, and his family murdered. A federal investigation followed, and Boyle ended up being defeated by Arnold Miller for the position in 1972. Miller was a strong advocate for black lung, and was the candidate endorsed by the group “Miners for Democracy”. Shortly after, the Black Lung Benefits Act passed through Congress, finally granting relief for the workers who had suffered for many years.
On January 9, 2014, word began spreading around the Charleston, West Virginia area that a chemical holding tank at Freedom Industries, a chemical plant, had sprung a leak, contaminating the water for Kanawha County and many surrounding counties. This chemical was a toxic compound known as MCHM, and it was a chemical used to treat and process coal. Health officials advised that residents not use tap water for any reason, including washing clothes, shaving, showering, and cooking. Bottled water and gallon jugs were handed out and delivered to local residents, providing some relief.
Health officials knew very little about MCHM and its effects on the human body, therefore the only clear way to avoid potential sickness and death was to avoid the tap water altogether. The President of the company, Gary Southern, was criticized heavily for possibly having knowledge of the leak earlier than January 9 and not taking action sooner. On January 17, 2014, Freedom Industries filed for bankruptcy. MCHM was still detected in the water supplies for weeks following this incident. Many critics consider this disaster to be a by-product of the coal industry due to the company’s role in processing coal. Gary Southern was forced to pay a $20,000 fine after the disaster and served 30 days in prison.
