Home | WebMail | Register or Login

      Calgary | Regions | Local Traffic Report | Advertise on Action News | Contact

Sign Up

Sign Up

Please fill this form to create an account.

Already have an account? Login here.

Posted: 2016-04-09T19:22:08Z | Updated: 2016-04-11T17:36:41Z

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was sentenced to just one year for safety violations at a West Virginia mine that led to the deaths of 29 miners in a 2010 explosion. Now, one woman is working to push Blankenship to reflect on his crimes.

Ann Bybee-Finley, who grew up in Hurricane, West Virginia, launched a campaign called "Making one year count" on Wednesday, calling on people to send letters to Blankenship every day that he is in prison.

She wants to show Blankenship how many people he affected and empower West Virginians to speak out against coal industry abuses in their state.

Bybee-Finley told The Huffington Post she was inspired to start the campaign after seeing an emotional video in which Tommy Davis, whose brother, son and nephew were killed in the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine, reacted to Blankenship's sentencing. Blankenship owned the mine and prosecutors said he knowingly ignored safety standards.

"He only gets one year and nothing we can say or do will change that right now. Working with what we got, how can we make this year more meaningful?" Bybee-Finley said. "If we could make it longer, a lot of people would, but we can't, right now, so we have to take this alternative approach."