Jack Spadaro (born October 11, 1948) is an American mining engineer. He is from

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

and is known for bringing attention to oversights of the government in relation to the

Martin County coal slurry spill The Martin County coal slurry spill was a mining accident that occurred after midnight on October 11, 2000, when the bottom of a coal slurry impoundment owned by Massey Energy in Martin County, Kentucky, broke into an abandoned underground min ...

and

whistleblowing A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

on the subsequent downplaying of the role of the government and

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 Centr ...

in the disaster.

Early life

Jack Spadaro was born in West Virginia and graduated from Mt. Hope High School in 1967. Under the guidance of an influential English teacher who was married to the head of the Bureau of Mines at that time, he received a scholarship to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

where he studied

mining engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

Career

Two years after graduation from college, Spadaro was teaching and doing research when, on February 26, 1972, the Buffalo Creek flood disaster occurred. Spadaro was one of the investigators called upon by Governor Arch Moore to investigate the matter. When Jack arrived he noticed workers pulling dead bodies from the mud. This inspired him to protect miners and regulate activity in those communities. He began to uncover information that proved dams built across West Virginia had not used standard engineering methods. Vice president of Buffalo Mining Steve Dasovich said that during the construction of one dam on Buffalo Creek no engineering calculations were made. Nearly a decade later Spadaro joined the

Department of Natural Resources This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies with a variety of titles and responsibilities are included, e.g. Department of Environment, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of E ...

and began building an inventory of dams and enforcing laws regulating coal waste and dam construction. Spadaro spent his career overseeing environmental disasters and damage caused by coal mining. For 38 years he worked alongside companies, citizens, and many other organizations to combat hazards that correlate with coal mining incidents and processes. He worked as a

Mine Safety and Health Administration The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) () is a large agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) to enforce compliance with mandatory safet ...

consultant, providing assistance as an expert witness in cases that involved damage to the environment and mining incidents that affected workers. Spadaro has been a key trial witness due to his personal experience with large mining incidents.

Martin County sludge spill

The Martin County sludge spill was an incident that Spadaro worked closely on. This

coal slurry Coal slurry is a mixture of solids (mined coal or coal waste) and liquids (water or organic) produced by a coal preparation plant. Preparation To transform the coal ash into a slurry, coal is separated from non-combustible components and can be ...

impoundment resulted from the Massey Energy Company's mining expeditions. He was asked to investigate the incident, working alongside colleagues to find the root of the impoundment failure. This investigation led to the discovery of a previous spill at the same spot. Accusations came amid claims that this problem had been fixed in the past. Through Spadaro's efforts and investigation, it was discovered that engineers were aware of the previous spill in 1994, and that the issue had been ongoing until it broke in October. Spadaro came forward with viable evidence and sources stemming from his research. This information intended to show the origin of the spill. During this time, the Bush administration had a strong push for more energy, which led to the deregulation of energy companies. On June 4, 2003 government agents entered Spadaro’s office and went through his files. He was locked out and placed on administrative leave. Spadaro stated that the Bush administration was covering up the Martin County spill. Spadaro complained that the new administration had given lucrative contracts for work at the

National Mine Health and Safety Academy The United States National Mine Health and Safety Academy is a federal academy responsible for training the mine safety and health inspectors and technical support personnel of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The Academy is locate ...

to friends. The MSHA denied the accusations, while Jack claimed the program was divided into 186 smaller contracts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spadaro, Jack American mining engineers American whistleblowers People from Mount Hope, West Virginia 1948 births Living people People from Hamlin, West Virginia