| By Phil Kabler
STAFF WRITER CHARLESTON GAZETTE
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CHARLESTON GAZETTE
PARKERSBURG â A new state law raising legal weight limits for coal trucks on some roads will not help the coal industry
and will not save lives, the president of Massey Energy told lawmakers Tuesday.
Don Blankenship told a legislative interim committee that the law raising legal limits to 120,000 pounds on designated coal
haul routes will drive up coal industry costs and will not affect what he called a "no worse than average" rate of fatal
accidents involving coal trucks.
"Four to six fatalities a year, with the number of miles coal trucks are traveling on these highways each year, is no worse than
average," said Blankenship.
He said that if the Legislature were serious about saving lives, it would pass a mandatory helmet law for children riding
all-terrain vehicles.
"There are more children by far killed on ATVs than there are people killed by coal trucks," he said.
Blankenship said a strictly enforced 120,000-pound weight limit would hurt the coal industry â even though, before the new
law, the maximum legal limit was 80,000 pounds.
"The truth of the matter is, the industry has been allowed through common law, if you will, to haul 140 [thousand] to 160
[thousand] pound loads," he said. "You might as well go to 140 [thousand] and have the jobs as well as the law."
Blankenship made the comments during a presentation to the interim Joint Commission on Economic Development, touting
the viability of coal gasification technology.
His comments turned to the difficulties West Virginia has attracting investment because the state is not viewed as
business-friendly.
"Yet, we continue to pass bills and create regulatory issues," he said, launching into his assessment of the coal truck
legislation.
"This is absolutely incredible," Delegate Mike Caputo, D-Marion, said of Blankenship's remarks. "I guess I shouldn't be
shocked he would make a comment like that, but I still am."
Caputo, a United Mine Workers representative and the leading legislative opponent of bills to raise coal-truck weight limits,
said that if Blankenship had made those comments during the regular session, the bill might not have passed.
"It would have changed the whole concept of the debate," Caputo said.
"Don Blankenship has revealed the old-time coal operator mentality â human lives don't come into consideration when it
comes to profits," he said.
Bill Raney, with the West Virginia Coal Association, downplayed Blankenship's comments, saying the Massey CEO was
simply expressing industry concerns with the new law.
"It's going to have an adverse impact on the industry and on the state," Raney said. "Hopefully, that impact can be minimized
through the implementation of the act."
Raney also said Blankenship accurately cited figures for coal truck fatalities.
"The fact is, the safety record is awfully good when you look at the number of miles," he said.
Caputo said he believes the industry's goal should be zero coal truck fatalities.
He said of Blankenship, "I wish he would sit down and talk to families of coal truck accident victims, and ask them if they
think six or eight deaths a year is reasonable."
To contact staff writer Phil Kabler, use e-mail or call 348-1220.
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