Don blankenship family

In August, our good friends over at Coal River Mountain Watch took a Mother Jones magazine reporter on a tour of Massey Energy’s (now Alpha Natural Resources) messes for an article that is out today. Tomorrow, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s trial starts. He faces charges over lying to regulators and investors about safety measures at a coal mine where a horrifying explosion killed 29 men on April 5, 2010.

As history unfolds with Blankenship’s criminal trial, many of us West Virginians are hoping for some semblance of justice for the families of the miners who have died in Massey mines.

Right now (as pretty much always), it’s hard not to think about and live with (or die under!) numerous other instances where people have struggled for justice as Massey (and other coal corporations) messed with West Virginia’s history.

For the Mother Jones story, photographer Stacy Kranitz wanted aerial shots of Blankenship’s mountaintop mansion that loo Don blankenship net worth!