Document Debate Continues Ahead of Blankenship Trial

Attorneys for former coal executive Don Blankenship are pressing for documents related to the deadly Upper Big Branch Mine explosion in 2010. They want the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration to turn over what the attorneys say are previously undisclosed documents, including records about a meeting and a phone call between the former Massey Energy CEO and MSHA’s chief Joe Main in the two months before the mining disaster. The Charleston Gazette-Mail says Blankenship’s defense team speculates the documents will show that government inspectors never witnessed any conspiracy to violate mine safety standards. The trial starts October 1.