Donald Leon Blankenship is an American business executive, political candidate, and convicted criminal. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company in the United States—from 2000 until 2010 when an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine resulted in the death of 29 workers. He was imprisoned for 1 year for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards.
Blankenship in 2010
Blankenship presidential campaign logo
Massey Energy Company was a coal extractor in the United States with substantial operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. By revenue, it was the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States and the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia. By coal production weight, it was the sixth largest producer of coal in the United States.
Wolf Creek, October 22, 2000
Susan Rosenberg and Dr. James Hansen were arrested June 23, 2009, at the gates of Massey Energy-operated Goals Coal Company. At least 15 people were arrested protesting mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.