[Wildcatk23]

According to 60 Minutes, the $5,600 number is bogus. You should look for a better source than Wikipedia on which to base an argument. The anti-coal groups are pretty good at spreading propaganda. Their lies often find there way to Wikipedia.

(60 Minutes quoted a former MSHA manager, who said the fine was $100,000+, which is still small considering the damage but Massey's quick response to the spill and large expenditures on the clean up should have weighed in their favor.)

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Jack Spadaro tried to tell the truth did he not? And was fired when the bush administration took over Coal investigation.

Jack Spadaro has made it his life's work to figure out why these spills happen and how to stop them. But right now he is awaiting final word from officials at the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), a wing of the U.S. Department of Labor that is a lead regulatory agency for the coal industry, as to whether he will retain his job as the superintendent of the National Mine Safety and Health Academy, MSHA's training facility [editor's note: he was fired]. His superiors are accusing him of a raft of misbehaviors -- including "abusing his authority" and "failing to follow instructions." But as far as he's concerned, the reason he's facing dismissal is very simple: He's been in hot water since January 2001 -- when Bush administration officials took control of the Martin County Coal investigation.

Before the change in political administration, Spadaro and his teammates had been uncovering information that had far-reaching implications for both Massey Energy (the parent company of Martin County Coal and a major contributor to the Republican Party) and the coal industry as a whole. Testimony and documents revealed that executives at Martin County Coal and federal regulators were aware that there was potential for a catastrophic failure at the slurry impoundment but didn't take proper actions to avoid it. In particular, an MSHA engineer had made a list of specific safety recommendations to Martin County Coal and MSHA district officials following a 100-million gallon spill in May 1994. But MSHA and Martin not only largely ignored the recommendations, MSHA actually allowed Martin to add coal waste to its impoundment.

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_200..._spill.php