explore: West Virginia - Hillbillies, Coal Miners, Treehuggers & God

April 05, 2012 from explore.org

On April 5, 2010, a massive explosion ripped through Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, leading to the deaths of 29 coal miners. Join host Charles Annenberg Weingarten and the explore team as they travel to the heart of Appalachia to meet the community torn apart by the disaster, and learn about their fight to protect the environment and rebuild their way of life.

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In This Video

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and, since the 1880s, has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. ... Explore this topic

Massey Energy

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 product... Explore this topic

Upper Big Branch Mine disaster

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 roughly 1,000 feet underground in Raleigh County, West Virginia at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine located in Montcoal. Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. The explosion occurred ... Explore this topic

West Virginia

West Virginia (/ˌwɛstvɚˈdʒɪnjə/(helpinfo)) is a state in the Appalachian, Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia on the southeast, Kentucky on the southwest, Ohio on the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland on the northeast. The c... Explore this topic

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature a... Explore this topic

Alpha Natural Resources

Alpha Natural Resources is a large American producer of metallurgical and thermal coal. It also provides services relating to equipment repairs, road construction and logistics. It doesn't produce all of the coal it sells, some is purchased and resold. Alpha operates in Virgin... Explore this topic

Appalachia

Appalachia is a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S. state of Alabama... Explore this topic

Mine Safety and Health Administration

The Mine Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to enforce compliance with mandatory safety and health standards as a means to eliminate fatal acc... Explore this topic

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Annenberg Foundation

The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation that provides funding and support to non-profit organizations in the United States and around the world. Some of the Foundation's core initiatives are the 'Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcasting project, which funds many e... Explore this topic

Also See

Coal mining

Massey Energy

Upper Big Branch Mine disaster

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Upper Big Branch Coal Mine Boss Charged With Fraud

Associated Press | Feb 22

The Superintendent of the West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 29 men in 2010 was charged Wednesday with conspiracy to defraud the US ...