It appears that the Massey Energy Company may have gotten away with nearly 30 negligent homicides.

April 5, 2011 29 miners lost their lives in a horrific explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, W.Va., that, according to multiple independent reports, occurred directly because of Massey’s priority of production over safety.

One of the two survivors, Joshua Williams, who was exiting the mine at the time, described the terrifying moment as the time “when the world came to an end,” according to an independent report ordered by the governor Earl Ray Tomblin.

A single spark ignited a heavy concentration of methane gas, which, in combination with the low oxygen levels, burst into a massive fireball that raged throughout lower sections of the mine, further fueled by an over-abundance of coal dust in the mine at the time.

It took rescuers a week to clear the victims from the mine because of the lingering treacherous conditions inside the cavernous tunnels. Hours seemed like weeks, and days seemed like years to the families of the miners whose worst fears were finally realized on that fateful day.

And unfortunately, in likely many of their cases, their suffering has really only begun.

Coal miners don’t choose to be coal miners because they love the long back-breaking hours, shortening their lives every day, breathing in hazardous gas as well as rock and coal dust.

They do it because, in towns like Montcoal, coal mining is how the men provide for their families. It’s a prominent historical aspect of the culture that continues to be instilled in generations today, despite the risks against the environment and, more importantly, against the men who are more or less forced to spend the majority of their lives in a dark, dusty and dangerous cave.

Massey, which has since been absorbed by Alpha Natural Resources, knew this, and their massive corporation was able to exploit these coal mining communities for decades, perpetuating a grim situation for many families.

ANR hasn’t had a disaster on the scale of the Massey Big Branch explosion yet in their history, but its decision to transfer a number of Massey executives to corporate positions in their company doesn’t bode well for their future.

It does, however, speak volumes about the integrity, or lack thereof, within their corporation as they sacrifice a prime opportunity to send a strong statement to please their recently acquired associates.

If you’re local to the Northeast, you’ve likely come across some of their toxic advertising. As you’d expect, they promote themselves as a “compassionate” company.

“We conduct our business safely, ethically, honestly and with integrity at all times. We care. Caring for one another helps us all return to our families safe and healthy,” reads ANR’s website.

What utter hypocrisy.

In another independent report filed by the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration on Dec. 6, it was found that Massey was not only directly responsible for the deaths at the Big Branch Mine, but that they often purposely and aggressively attempted to thwart detection of its non-compliance with safety and health standards.

Beside Massey’s unlawful policies and practices being the root cause of the tragedy, the federally mandated report also deemed that “the evidence accumulated during the investigation demonstrates that PCC/Massey promoted and enforced a workplace culture that valued production over safety.”

The findings are appalling to say the least, but it gets worse.

The report also stated that “witness testimony revealed that miners were intimidated by UBB management and were told that raising safety concerns would jeopardize their jobs.”

As stated earlier, these miners’ jobs were more than just their lifelines; they were the lifelines of their families. And here, in black and white, it’s been found that Massey consistently threatened these lifelines and knowingly put these men’s lives at stake every single day they rode the mantrips down into the mine.

Despite these outrageous findings, the Justice Department has decided to hold off on pursuing any type of criminal charges.

Instead, ANR has only had to pay the 29 families around a combined $47 million on behalf of their recently acquired subsidiary Massey, which of course only equates to a little more than one million per family.

The executives of Massey, who knowingly put these blue collar workers in harm’s way, continue to walk the streets free and obscenely wealthy, despite having the blood of 29 men on their hands.

It seems that, yet again, corporate influence supersedes human life in modern-day America; but that won’t deter the determined supporters of the 29 men, who plan to fight the injustices for years to come.

One of those supporters, United Mine Workers of America’s President Cecil E. Roberts, was appropriately adamant that suitable consequences have yet to be handed down when he was recently interviewed by the New York Times.

“Until someone goes to jail, there will be no justice done here.”