2006-01-04
corporate responsibility
International Coal Group owns the Sago mine in West Virginia where 13 miners were trapped and where 12 died. ICG is a relatively new company that was formed in May 2004 by a group of private investors, including the
leveraged buyout king, Wilbur Ross. In the months since then, U.S. officials say the number of safety violations at the company's mines has risen.
Outside of his investment efforts, Mr. Ross maintains a busy social schedule attending parties and fundraisers in New York City. Here he is with a companion at a cocktail reception to celebrate Palm Beach! America’s International Fine Art & Antique Fair which will be held next February in Palm Beach. In 2004, around the time he was grabbing up Horizon Resources, [former owner of the Sego mine], Mr. Ross was also donating money to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a group I suspect the dead coal miners widow's will never get to hear.
International Coal Group focuses its energy on one nation, the US. The company produces coal from 12 mining complexes in Northern and Central Appalachia (Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia) and from one complex in the Illinois Basin. International Coal Group produces low-sulfur steam coal, which is sold mainly to electric utilities, and metallurgical coal, which is sold to steelmakers. Steam coal accounts for the majority of the company's reserves, which amount to some 885 million tons of coal.
Horizon Natural Resources the company that ICG bought out before taking over the Sego mining operation was involved in union busting and eliminating worker pension benefits before purchase.
According to the Washington Post:
On another note, Mr. Ross remains a stalwart opponent to leveling the playing field in international trade and vigorously opposes to trade concessions given to developing nations like Mexico.
Who's behind the West Virginia coal mine cave in?
Let me help you get in touch with them.
ICG, Inc, | 2000 Ashland Drive | Ashland, KY 41101 | PH: 606-920-7400
KEY PEOPLE: Chair: Wilbur L. Ross Jr. | President/CEO: Bennett K. Hatfield | SVP Sales and Marketing: Michael Hardesty
PARENT CORP: W L Ross | 600 Lexington Avenue | New York, New York 10022 | PH:212-826-1100 | FAX:212-317-4891
Let me help you get in touch with them.
ICG, Inc, | 2000 Ashland Drive | Ashland, KY 41101 | PH: 606-920-7400
KEY PEOPLE: Chair: Wilbur L. Ross Jr. | President/CEO: Bennett K. Hatfield | SVP Sales and Marketing: Michael Hardesty
PARENT CORP: W L Ross | 600 Lexington Avenue | New York, New York 10022 | PH:212-826-1100 | FAX:212-317-4891
International Coal Group owns the Sago mine in West Virginia where 13 miners were trapped and where 12 died. ICG is a relatively new company that was formed in May 2004 by a group of private investors, including the
leveraged buyout king, Wilbur Ross. In the months since then, U.S. officials say the number of safety violations at the company's mines has risen. Outside of his investment efforts, Mr. Ross maintains a busy social schedule attending parties and fundraisers in New York City. Here he is with a companion at a cocktail reception to celebrate Palm Beach! America’s International Fine Art & Antique Fair which will be held next February in Palm Beach. In 2004, around the time he was grabbing up Horizon Resources, [former owner of the Sego mine], Mr. Ross was also donating money to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a group I suspect the dead coal miners widow's will never get to hear. International Coal Group focuses its energy on one nation, the US. The company produces coal from 12 mining complexes in Northern and Central Appalachia (Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia) and from one complex in the Illinois Basin. International Coal Group produces low-sulfur steam coal, which is sold mainly to electric utilities, and metallurgical coal, which is sold to steelmakers. Steam coal accounts for the majority of the company's reserves, which amount to some 885 million tons of coal.
Horizon Natural Resources the company that ICG bought out before taking over the Sego mining operation was involved in union busting and eliminating worker pension benefits before purchase.
According to the Washington Post:
In the past two years, the mine was cited 273 times for safety violations, of which about a third were classified as "significant and substantial," according to documents compiled by the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Many were for problems that could contribute to accidental explosions or the collapse of mine tunnels, records show.And The Louisville Courier Journal reports that:
In addition, 16 violations logged in the past eight months were listed as "unwarrantable failures," a designation reserved for serious safety infractions for which the operator had either already been warned, or which showed "indifference or extreme lack of care," said Tony Oppegard, a former MSHA senior adviser.
The Sago mine in West Virginia, the site of a Monday explosion that trapped 13 miners, had 208 citations in 2005 and was fined $24,155. It employed 137 people at its highest level last year.Only late last year a U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration Report on another Mining Operation Fatality at a different coal operation owned and managed by International Coal Group that occurred on 28 December 2004. On the other hand, ICG has developed initatives to combat workplace substance abuse.
Kentucky mining regulators issued 54 temporary closure orders to ICG mines in the state last year because of safety problems, said Holly McCoy, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Mine Safety and Licensing.
On another note, Mr. Ross remains a stalwart opponent to leveling the playing field in international trade and vigorously opposes to trade concessions given to developing nations like Mexico.
Finally, I'm not completely certain, but ICG, Inc may be connected with the PIRA Energy Group, a big international energy shares trader/speculator.
PIRA execs: John Lichtblau/Chair | Gary Ross/CEO | Lawrence Goldstein/Pres.
USA CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS: PIRA Energy Group | 3 Park Avenue, 26th Floor | New York, NY 10016-5989 PH: 212-686-6808
PIRA execs: John Lichtblau/Chair | Gary Ross/CEO | Lawrence Goldstein/Pres.
USA CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS: PIRA Energy Group | 3 Park Avenue, 26th Floor | New York, NY 10016-5989 PH: 212-686-6808
RESEARCH SOURCES: National Public Radio, Lousiville Courier-Journal, North Carolina Business Journal, The New York Social Diary, International Coal Group, Oligopoly Watch, W L Ross & Co. LLC |
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