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SW: →Massey starts work on coal prep plant: - add section
Massey stated the plant will serve several operations producing metallurgical coal used for steelmaking. Massey stated that they are beefing up its ability to produce metallurgical coal to cash in on growing demand from Asian steelmakers.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9JJA0D03.htm "Massey Energy starts work on W.Va. prep plant"] Associated Press, November 19, 2010.</ref>
==Massey buys out town in West Virginia==
According to a an April 12, 2011 article in ''The New York Times,'' after engaging in heavy coal mining around the city of Lindytown, West Virginia, [[Massey]] bought many properties from town residents. Massey suggested it was a gesture of good will, but others say life in the town became unlivable from the coal mining.<ref name=db>Dan Barry, [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/us/13lindytown.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hp "As the Mountaintops Fall, a Coal Town Vanishes"] New York Times, April 12, 2011.</ref>
According to a statement from Shane Harvey, the general counsel for Massey, many of Lindytown’s residents were either retired miners or their widows and descendants who "welcomed the opportunity to move to places more metropolitan" or with easier access to medical facilities. Interested in selling their properties, they contacted Massey, which began making offers in December 2008 — offers that for the most part were accepted. Harvey went on to say that Massey voluntarily bought the properties “as an additional backup to the state and federal regulations” that protect people who live near mining operations."<ref name=db/>
James Smith, 68, a retired coal miner from Lindytown, says the company’s statement is true for some people, buy many residents wanted to leave Lindytown only because the [[mountaintop removal]] operations above had ruined the quality of life below. He said that, despite having family in the area for generations, when the explosions began for coal mining, [[coal dust]] filled the air: “You could wash your car today, and tomorrow you could write your name on it in the dust. It was just unpleasant to live in that town. Period.” Smith went on to say that Massey was a motivated buyer, given that it was probably cheaper to buy out a small community than to deal with all the complaint-generated inspections, or the possible lawsuits over [[silica dust]] and “fly rock.”<ref name=db/>
==Personnel==
