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Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big Coal
"Scathing exposé of the coal industry."
-- The New York Times Book Review
On April 5, 2010, an explosion ripped through Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine, killing twenty-nine coal miners. This tragedy was the deadliest mine disaster in the United States in forty years―a disaster that never should have happened. These deaths were rooted in the cynical corporate culture of Massey and its notorious former CEO Don Blankenship, and were part of an endless cycle of poverty, exploitation, and environmental abuse that has dominated the Appalachian coalfields since coal was first discovered there. And the cycle continues unabated as coal companies bury the most insidious dangers deep underground, all in search of higher profits, and hide the true costs from regulators, unions, and investors alike.
But the disaster at Upper Big Branch goes beyond the coalfields of West Virginia. It casts a global shadow, calling into bitter question why coal miners in the United States are sacrificed to erect cities on the other side of the world, why the coal wars have been allowed to rage, polarizing the country, and how the world's voracious appetite for energy is satisfied at such horrendous cost.
With Thunder on the Mountain, Peter A. Galuszka pieces together the true story of greed and negligence behind the tragedy at the Upper Big Branch Mine, and in doing so he has created a devastating portrait of an entire industry that exposes the coal-black motivations that led to the death of twenty-nine miners and fuel the ongoing war for the world's energy future.
-- The New York Times Book Review
On April 5, 2010, an explosion ripped through Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine, killing twenty-nine coal miners. This tragedy was the deadliest mine disaster in the United States in forty years―a disaster that never should have happened. These deaths were rooted in the cynical corporate culture of Massey and its notorious former CEO Don Blankenship, and were part of an endless cycle of poverty, exploitation, and environmental abuse that has dominated the Appalachian coalfields since coal was first discovered there. And the cycle continues unabated as coal companies bury the most insidious dangers deep underground, all in search of higher profits, and hide the true costs from regulators, unions, and investors alike.
But the disaster at Upper Big Branch goes beyond the coalfields of West Virginia. It casts a global shadow, calling into bitter question why coal miners in the United States are sacrificed to erect cities on the other side of the world, why the coal wars have been allowed to rage, polarizing the country, and how the world's voracious appetite for energy is satisfied at such horrendous cost.
With Thunder on the Mountain, Peter A. Galuszka pieces together the true story of greed and negligence behind the tragedy at the Upper Big Branch Mine, and in doing so he has created a devastating portrait of an entire industry that exposes the coal-black motivations that led to the death of twenty-nine miners and fuel the ongoing war for the world's energy future.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published September 18, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 26, 2013
“Thunder on the Mountain” BY Peter A. Galuszka, published by St. Martin’s Press.
Category – History/Coal Mining
“Thunder on the Mountain” should be read by everyone in the coal belts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. I know because I came from a coal mining town in Pennsylvania. I know the mindset of the miner. These are people who are hard working and set in their ways. So set in their ways that they have no problem going back into the mines after a horrific disaster. The story begins with the explosion on April 5, 2010 in the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. The explosion cost 29 miners their lives and brought forth the exploitation of the miners. This and many other mine tragedies could have easily been avoided if proper mine safety measures had been followed. In an effort to cut costs, increase profitability, and satisfy their stock holders, Massey energy, owners of the mine, failed to maintain a proper ventilation system allowing a dangerous level of methane gas to accumulate. It further investigates the culpability of management and their continued negligence concerning the safety of the miners. The book investigates the abuses of mining companies that have existed in the Appalachian coal fields since coal was first discovered.
It also predicts the future of coal and the sale of coal to China, India, and Japan. There is also a discussion on the alternative sources of energy other than coal and why coal will continue, at least in the near future, the best source of energy. The reader will be amazed at the profitability of the coal companies and the amount of money that is spent on fighting the fines levied on them; in fact, it is more profitable to spend millions fighting the infractions than spending money for miner safety.
This is an investigative work that rivals the stories on 60 Minutes.
Category – History/Coal Mining
“Thunder on the Mountain” should be read by everyone in the coal belts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. I know because I came from a coal mining town in Pennsylvania. I know the mindset of the miner. These are people who are hard working and set in their ways. So set in their ways that they have no problem going back into the mines after a horrific disaster. The story begins with the explosion on April 5, 2010 in the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. The explosion cost 29 miners their lives and brought forth the exploitation of the miners. This and many other mine tragedies could have easily been avoided if proper mine safety measures had been followed. In an effort to cut costs, increase profitability, and satisfy their stock holders, Massey energy, owners of the mine, failed to maintain a proper ventilation system allowing a dangerous level of methane gas to accumulate. It further investigates the culpability of management and their continued negligence concerning the safety of the miners. The book investigates the abuses of mining companies that have existed in the Appalachian coal fields since coal was first discovered.
It also predicts the future of coal and the sale of coal to China, India, and Japan. There is also a discussion on the alternative sources of energy other than coal and why coal will continue, at least in the near future, the best source of energy. The reader will be amazed at the profitability of the coal companies and the amount of money that is spent on fighting the fines levied on them; in fact, it is more profitable to spend millions fighting the infractions than spending money for miner safety.
This is an investigative work that rivals the stories on 60 Minutes.
July 23, 2021
Amazingly, exhaustively researched and assembled, compellingly presented. The writing is excellent, but editing is just terrible. This needs a much tighter edit for grammar, especially sentence length. The reader gets lost in an overwhelming number of too-ambitious, paragraph-length sentences. And if *I* can say that, I promise, it's *really* bad. The content itself is so good, though, that I still give it 5 stars.
November 11, 2012
This book needs a good editor.
May 31, 2015
29 miners killed by greed deserve a better book than this rough draft in desperate need of a professional editor.
May 17, 2017
It struck me when I finished reading this book and started to review it, that I was reviewing and giving four stars to a terrible American tragedy. For some reason that really bothered me, and it probably will for some time. My little bit of guilt and uncertainty is irrelevant to the story here, where over two dozen miners at the Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, run by Massey Coal Company, perished and many others were injured when the mine exploded.
This book is another one I wanted to read after doing some research into the country we live in and in fact the world around us. West Virginia isn't but a couple of states removed from my home in North Carolina. It is filled with country folk, mountain people and life there, as here is different than a lot of places. The people here, and there I am sure, are unique and wonderful and have families and friends who love them. That is a good life, no?
The negligence of the corporations and companies that use people up and line their pockets is nothing new to anyone who lives in this country. The sad part is that we still put up with the loss of life. In regards to coal mining, it is a violent and awful setting for people to work, live near and be victim to. This book goes into these things that have been going on for over 125 years.
Air is the issue with this tragedy. Air quality and the toxic and flammable environment within the Big Branch Mine is where this goes badly. Lack of proper inspections, inadequate fire safety equipment and many other negligent and reckless systems, dilapidated or ignored caused lives to be lost. This whole situation happened in 2010. Don Blankenship ran Massey Mining. Men and women choose to do these jobs to provide for their families, they made a product that our country runs on and is addicted to. No changes in safety regulations nor operating procedures has happened since this tragedy. This book and the research I undertook to find out about this tragedy makes me mad as hell, but aware of how things in our progressive world have failed to progress. It truly is a pity that things like this happen and the only persons who pay for them are the families and friends of those who were lost....
Danny
This book is another one I wanted to read after doing some research into the country we live in and in fact the world around us. West Virginia isn't but a couple of states removed from my home in North Carolina. It is filled with country folk, mountain people and life there, as here is different than a lot of places. The people here, and there I am sure, are unique and wonderful and have families and friends who love them. That is a good life, no?
The negligence of the corporations and companies that use people up and line their pockets is nothing new to anyone who lives in this country. The sad part is that we still put up with the loss of life. In regards to coal mining, it is a violent and awful setting for people to work, live near and be victim to. This book goes into these things that have been going on for over 125 years.
Air is the issue with this tragedy. Air quality and the toxic and flammable environment within the Big Branch Mine is where this goes badly. Lack of proper inspections, inadequate fire safety equipment and many other negligent and reckless systems, dilapidated or ignored caused lives to be lost. This whole situation happened in 2010. Don Blankenship ran Massey Mining. Men and women choose to do these jobs to provide for their families, they made a product that our country runs on and is addicted to. No changes in safety regulations nor operating procedures has happened since this tragedy. This book and the research I undertook to find out about this tragedy makes me mad as hell, but aware of how things in our progressive world have failed to progress. It truly is a pity that things like this happen and the only persons who pay for them are the families and friends of those who were lost....
Danny
February 27, 2025
The people and natural resources of West Virginia have been taken advantage of time and again by big business. They do not care about the individuals who mine their coal or the mountains, creeks, and rivers they destroy for their billions in profits. It’s unbelievable that the Mine Safety and Health Administration can’t subpoena documents! Why are mine safety regulations voted down by the government at every turn? Coal companies lobby against tougher safety regulations and deflect blame for disasters such as Upper Big Branch and Sago when lax safety standards are unequivocally to blame. People who invoke the fifth amendment in regard to their knowledge of unsafe mine conditions should not be rewarded with million dollar jobs in the C-suite of yet another mining company. And, incredibly, the MSHA fined Massey Energy only $10.8 million after the Upper Big Branch disaster - while the EPA fined them $20 million for an underground mine flood. The lives of coal miners are worthless to these companies and the federal government and I wish the people of this beautiful state would wake up and see it. That being said, the book is extremely well researched. It can be a little murky in the later chapters; I wish there were more personal anecdotes from miners, but there are lots of other books with those I suppose. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about coal mining in Appalachia.
May 1, 2020
Easy read. Overview of the coal industry, albeit just before coal imploded and now will most likely sink given low oil and natural gas prices.
Not unfavorable portrait of West Virginia.
Unseamly (sic) network of coal operators, UMWA, elected officials, corporate greed, and national politics with scant regard for the working class.
Not unfavorable portrait of West Virginia.
Unseamly (sic) network of coal operators, UMWA, elected officials, corporate greed, and national politics with scant regard for the working class.
October 21, 2018
An expose on the secrets behind Big Coal: the corporations who bought politicians enough to ensure their livelihood at the expense of safety and human life
October 9, 2025
Informative book. Writing style wasn’t my preference, though.
August 6, 2015
I read this book to 1) learn more about the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster and Massey’s/Don Blankenship’s role in it; and 2) to try to make sense out of the so-called “coal wars.” I grew up in Western Pennsylvania’s bituminous coal country, less than 10 miles from the Homer City coal-burning power plant which, apparently, for years was the “dirtiest” plant in the country and produced more sulfur dioxide than any other power plant nationwide. On a recent visit, I saw signs saying, “Stop the war on coal, fire Obama.” It struck me as so insular. There’s a reason universities are divesting themselves of coal-industry stocks; Norway—a whole country!—is divesting itself of coal investments! In coal country, coal companies pollute streams and waterways –the local drinking water-- and too many of them cut corners right and left with worker safety. And still some coal folks are digging in their heels, defending their way of life. How can that be? Who else takes that kind of abuse and defends the abusers?
This informative book helped me to understand the situation, though ultimately, there’s a lot that still baffles me. On the plus side, the book’s constant focus on coal reminded me how much I like coal’s elemental nature. It’s cool stuff, and it comes in lots of different forms. In fact, metallurgical coal—which mostly goes to places like China—will continue to be a driving force in the coal industry no matter how many coal-burning power plants are shut down. So fine, but why do the coal companies have to be such bad actors, whacking off whole mountaintops, ruining waterways, and playing loose with workers’ safety? Why can’t they do this the right way?
Galuszka devotes an interesting chapter to coal country culture wars and the way that coal operators, like Blankenship, have helped to exploit an “us and them” mentality for their own good. Their polarizing agenda serves their companies very well, and ultimately hurts the locals. But it helps to explain the “Stop the war on coal” signs. It’s “us against them,” people in coal country are under attack by elitists and liberal environmentalists, and nobody understands their way of life, etc. etc. etc.
In a May 5 testimony before a Senate subcommittee concerning the legal implications of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island challenged the AG’s from West Virginia and Oklahoma, who opposed the EPA plan because it could hurt the coal economies in their states. “In Rhode Island,” Sen. Whitehouse told them, “where our oceans are up 10 inches against the shore, where our fisherman are seeing fisheries disappear, where houses that have been there for generations are falling into the ocean, we have a very different set of problems.” In other words, what makes coal jobs more important that fishing jobs? What makes local coal communities more important than all those communities that are bearing the brunt of global warming? Coal people? Answers?
(Note: a number of reviewers criticized the structure of this book and some found lots of typos. If you’re looking for Galuszka to stick solely to the story of the Upper Big Branch disaster, then you might not like the structure. But if you want to know more about the various forces behind the disaster, local and global, the structure works. Re: typos, maybe I had a later edition, but my copy was clean.)
This informative book helped me to understand the situation, though ultimately, there’s a lot that still baffles me. On the plus side, the book’s constant focus on coal reminded me how much I like coal’s elemental nature. It’s cool stuff, and it comes in lots of different forms. In fact, metallurgical coal—which mostly goes to places like China—will continue to be a driving force in the coal industry no matter how many coal-burning power plants are shut down. So fine, but why do the coal companies have to be such bad actors, whacking off whole mountaintops, ruining waterways, and playing loose with workers’ safety? Why can’t they do this the right way?
Galuszka devotes an interesting chapter to coal country culture wars and the way that coal operators, like Blankenship, have helped to exploit an “us and them” mentality for their own good. Their polarizing agenda serves their companies very well, and ultimately hurts the locals. But it helps to explain the “Stop the war on coal” signs. It’s “us against them,” people in coal country are under attack by elitists and liberal environmentalists, and nobody understands their way of life, etc. etc. etc.
In a May 5 testimony before a Senate subcommittee concerning the legal implications of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island challenged the AG’s from West Virginia and Oklahoma, who opposed the EPA plan because it could hurt the coal economies in their states. “In Rhode Island,” Sen. Whitehouse told them, “where our oceans are up 10 inches against the shore, where our fisherman are seeing fisheries disappear, where houses that have been there for generations are falling into the ocean, we have a very different set of problems.” In other words, what makes coal jobs more important that fishing jobs? What makes local coal communities more important than all those communities that are bearing the brunt of global warming? Coal people? Answers?
(Note: a number of reviewers criticized the structure of this book and some found lots of typos. If you’re looking for Galuszka to stick solely to the story of the Upper Big Branch disaster, then you might not like the structure. But if you want to know more about the various forces behind the disaster, local and global, the structure works. Re: typos, maybe I had a later edition, but my copy was clean.)
May 21, 2016
Although this book purports to be about the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine disaster that killed twenty-nine miners in 2006, it actually reads more like a collection of essays that are loosely related to one another that deal with topics ranging from Massey Energy (the owner of the UBB mine at the time of the explosion), a biography of Don Blankenship (CEO of Massey Energy at the time of the explosion), Mongolia's coal fields and the international demand for coal, and the fact that the US government does practically nothing to regulate the coal industry. The UBB disaster has little page time.
The book doesn't feel particularly well-written, and it badly needed an editor. There are numerous gaffes, typos, and rehashing of material that was discussed in previous chapters. For example, this gem appears on page 144: "[Ollie Combs] told me in 1997 for a Business-Week article...Combs, who died in 1991 at the age of eighty-seven, was the exception..." So, how did someone who supposedly died in 1991 give him an interview in 1997? Did he hold a seance? (Actually, the Widow Combs died in 1993, not 1991, at the age of 88, not 87.) Did anyone bother fact-checking this book? And how am I supposed to trust anything this book says when such obvious errors are allowed through?
I would recommend "Lost Mountain" by Erik Reese for anyone interested in the effects of strip- and mountain-top mining in Appalachia over this book. As for those interested in the UBB disaster, an internet search would yield more information.
The book doesn't feel particularly well-written, and it badly needed an editor. There are numerous gaffes, typos, and rehashing of material that was discussed in previous chapters. For example, this gem appears on page 144: "[Ollie Combs] told me in 1997 for a Business-Week article...Combs, who died in 1991 at the age of eighty-seven, was the exception..." So, how did someone who supposedly died in 1991 give him an interview in 1997? Did he hold a seance? (Actually, the Widow Combs died in 1993, not 1991, at the age of 88, not 87.) Did anyone bother fact-checking this book? And how am I supposed to trust anything this book says when such obvious errors are allowed through?
I would recommend "Lost Mountain" by Erik Reese for anyone interested in the effects of strip- and mountain-top mining in Appalachia over this book. As for those interested in the UBB disaster, an internet search would yield more information.
January 24, 2016
Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big Coal by Peter A. Galuszka (St. Martin's Press 2012) (363.119622) is an axe-grinder of an expose concerning the Massey Coal Company and its former CEO Donald Blankenship. A confession: my sympathies lie completely with the mineworkers and the environmentalists. With that said, although the book espouses the same viewpoints, Thunder on the Mountain is almost unreadable. I have never read a more poorly edited commercial publication. It's as though the author banged out a draft of the text on his word processor, spell-checked it, then sent it to the publisher. For instance, read page thirty-seven then try to guess when he worked in Thomasville, Georgia. On second thought, don't bother. My rating: 1/10, finished 2/22/13.
June 17, 2016
I read the book to get the bigger picture of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. What I got was a lesson in coal mining economics and business strategy with some relevant WV history.
While I was reading the book, Don Blankenship was sentenced to something like 9 months in prison for his responsibility for his part in their deaths. While I was neither the judge nor jury, that just doesn't seem right.
Interesting fact: at the end of the book the author is predicting the future of coal in the US. He surely didn't predict that the industry would contract by 80% in the next four or five years.
If you live in WV, mine coal or love a coal miner this is good reading. The book is well written and an easy read. Don Blankenship is easy to "dislike."
While I was reading the book, Don Blankenship was sentenced to something like 9 months in prison for his responsibility for his part in their deaths. While I was neither the judge nor jury, that just doesn't seem right.
Interesting fact: at the end of the book the author is predicting the future of coal in the US. He surely didn't predict that the industry would contract by 80% in the next four or five years.
If you live in WV, mine coal or love a coal miner this is good reading. The book is well written and an easy read. Don Blankenship is easy to "dislike."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2013
First I will acknowledge that I have known author Peter Galuszka for over 30 years, so I have a bias.
This is a fascinating account of the coal industry written in a journalistic style. The book covers several areas: the actual account of the 2010 mining disaster that killed 29, the corporate culture of "Big Coal," and the global outlook for energy. I learned a great deal. The amount of money coal companies have been willing to pay in fines rather than invest in safety is truly criminal.
Some reviewers have criticized the editing, and I have to acknowledge that it occurred to me that I could have helped out if I read this before it was published.
This is a fascinating account of the coal industry written in a journalistic style. The book covers several areas: the actual account of the 2010 mining disaster that killed 29, the corporate culture of "Big Coal," and the global outlook for energy. I learned a great deal. The amount of money coal companies have been willing to pay in fines rather than invest in safety is truly criminal.
Some reviewers have criticized the editing, and I have to acknowledge that it occurred to me that I could have helped out if I read this before it was published.
September 17, 2013
On the one hand, this expose covering Massey Energy, the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster, and Massey CEO Don Blankenship contains lots of history and policy information, all of which is quite interesting. Massey and Blankenship were both bad actors, and their manipulation of the political and regulatory worlds in which they operated is pretty amazing. On the other, the book screams for an editor who pays attention to both its writing and its organization. The author has excellent journalistic credentials, so I was surprised by the book's disorganized rambling and some of the most awkward sentence construction I've seen in a while in professionally published material.
January 12, 2013
Dispiriting disquisition on Massey Energy and Don Blankenship, its Chairman and CEO. How milk marketing became more regulated than coal mining is beyond me, but the author makes this comparison more than once. Just another tragic true story about greed and exploitation in central Appalachia. Well-researched, but depressing. Anyone interested in the Appalachian coal industry will find this book informative.
May 25, 2013
The book would have made a good polemic or a decent history, but in trying to be both it fails on both accounts. Would have been a better choice to do this as a long-ish magazine article and focus just on the UBB disaster. Also, as others have pointed out, the book is riddled with typos and sentences/concepts that repeat in the same words mere pages apart. A good idea in serious need of an editor.
February 4, 2013
Absolutely worth a read, especially if you have connections to this area, I know many of us tend to think the company coal town days are something from the past but this book will give you a second glance and what is continuing to happen in the coal areas of the south.
November 7, 2013
This book did seem like an axe-grinder at times, and I felt like the information and stories were repeated to flesh the book out a bit, but if even half of the information is true, we are destroying Appalachia entirely - environmentally, personally, economically. Ugh.
January 8, 2015
Reading a book about coal mining while you are a coal miner is incredibly difficult, but I found the book interesting. At some points, the author tries too hard in his descriptions and other times the sentences are difficult to swallow. Another point entirely is how often he skips around.
November 3, 2015
Well balanced if written a bit "clunky." An indictment on Appalachian Big Coal in general and Massey Energy and it's former CEO Don Blankenship, who is currently under trial, in particular. The exploitation of the people of Appalachia is an old story, but one that merits attention.
December 4, 2014
Big Coal, as ugly, corrupt, and criminal as can be.
March 10, 2013
Good addition to Big Coal, Coal River, and Lost Mountain. Provides much more detail about Massey Energy's evil doings.
July 16, 2013
My new interest is Big Coal. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to know what has been happening while our minds and hearts have been otherwise preoccupied.
August 12, 2014
Sad, but true
February 5, 2016
Deeply disturbing. Having grown up in a coal mining family, this book resonated with me long after I finished it. Corruption, lies, political intrigue... it's worth the read.
April 8, 2017
Repetitive and not well organized. Needed a good edit.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews