What if your front yard was a profound danger to the public? Let's say you decide to place a very bright light in your yard that blinds drivers at night as they go past your house. Or you might have man eating venus fly traps that nip anxiously at pedestrians walking by.
What do you think would happen? My guess is the police would come out and ask you to turn off the light or suggest you mow down the man eating venus fly traps. And if you didn't do it, you would get a fine. And if you keep procrastinating and don't take care of the public menace that you created, work crews eventually will come to your house and dismantle the light and/or mow the man eating venus fly traps.
Then you would get hauled off to jail.
So when a coal company is cited eight times in one year for "substantial" methane related violations, how do we allow them to continue to operate?
This week’s blast comes after a year in which the Upper Big Branch mine had repeated problems with methane buildups. Since April 2009, federal regulators have cited the mine eight times for "substantial" violations relating to the mine’s methane control plans, according to the records.
How do you put a corporation in jail? Why aren't they held accountable? What ever happened to Jerry Spence?
The Supremes recently decided that corporations should have the same rights as people. OK, so when will we hold them to the same level of accountability?
Hey, I got an idea! Why don't you tell your neighbor that if he doesn't do something real dangerous, like go in a methane chamber with a random spark machine, you will take away his house and car! He and his family will lose everything unless he puts his life on the line for you.
I think they call that extortion or insanity or unbelievable meaness. And if you are an individual you get hauled off to jail. But if you are Massey Coal or any other corporation, you get to sell tickets and give yourself a bonus after throwing a few scraps to the shareholders.