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Utah Miners May Be Trapped Forever |
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The six coal miners trapped more than 1,500 feet underground at the Crandall Canyon Mine following its Aug. 6 collapse may be buried under the Utah mountain forever, a mining company official said yesterday.
Underground rescue attempts were halted after three rescue workers—including a federal mine safety inspector—were killed last week trying to remove debris from the mine tunnel in an attempt to reach the six. Officials say the safety conditions underground would jeopardize the lives of rescue and recovery workers if the operation continued. Holes drilled from above ground have failed to find any signs of life in the areas where the trapped miners may be.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that a former director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says for safety reasons the previous owners of the mine had left in place the coal-laden pillars that the current owner, Murray Energy, was harvesting through “retreat mining.”
Over the weekend, congressional leaders said they plan a probe into the disaster and the safety conditions at the mine.
On the scene in Huntington, Utah, yesterday, Murray Energy Vice President Robert Moore told a news conference, “It is likely these miners may not be found.” When reporters pressed him about whether he meant the miners would not found alive or if their bodies would never be recovered, he refused to elaborate and simply said:
It’s possible they may not be found.
Families and friends of the six angrily denounced Moore’s statement. Following a meeting at a nearby church, some 75 family members and friends marched to an outdoor news conference. Sonny Olsen, a spokesman for the family, told reporters:
Our families have concluded that [Murray Energy owner] Bob Murray, [current MSHA chief] Richard Stickler and Rob Moore have given up on the miners. We feel that they have given up and are just waiting for the six miners to expire.
Olsen says the families’ anger is aimed at company and federal officials, not the rescue workers who put in 12-hour shifts in dangerous conditions trying to reach the trapped six.
They are truly heroes. There are really no words to express towards our rescuers and for what they are trying to do to rescue our loved ones.
With the price of coal—and its profits—growing, some mining operations, including Murray’s Crandall Canyon Mine, are returning to mined out areas to take down the pillars of coal that had been left to help support the mine roof. The Washington Post reports:
In Crandall Canyon, the section the mine crew was working Aug. 6 had already been harvested and abandoned by a previous owner. The mine’s new owners sent crews back in to gather more….
The vast pillars of coal—often half or more of the coal in a workspace—are also called “pure profit” because there is no expense in reaching it.. “All you’ve got to do is knock it down and put it in your car,” said [Sue Ann] Martell [director of the Western Mining and Railroad Museum]. “It’s the cheapest coal you can get.”
Murray has denied that retreat mining was being done when the collapse occurred, though the mining plan approved by MSHA called for extensive retreat mining and miners say the practice was common.
J. Davit McAteer, MSHA director during the Clinton administration, told the newspaper that the practice of retreat mining—pulling down the support pillars as mining moves back from the area, is growing.
If the price wasn’t high, you wouldn’t do it. If you had virgin coal, you wouldn’t do it. We are re-mining, going in for a second take, third take, and when we’re doing that we’re dunning a risk.
We may be turning back the clock on mine safety instead of going forward. It’s picked up steam in the last 24-36 months. At Huntington, the previous owner had mined it out and left that panel for safety reasons.
In Washington, D.C., both the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee (HELP) announced plans to conduct investigations into the Crandall Canyon disaster.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) says the committee will:
Conduct a comprehensive investigation into the causes of this tragedy, the handling of the response, and the ways we can improve mine safety ands rescue efforts across our nation.
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Why doesn’t anyone mention that two of the miners are non union Mexican nationals working in the United States cheaper then union miners would work. They also do not demand the safety protection that a union American miner would be entitled to.
The reason the mine collapsed is because the mining plan for the mine was approved by MSHA. Richard Stickler was rejected twice by the congress and was appointed by a recess appointment by Bush. The UMWA vigorously opposed his appointment. If MSHA did the job it was created for- protecting miners- this wouldn’t have happened.
Corporate greed is corporate greed—the human cost doesn’t matter. The families pay the price. God Bless the miners and their families; Lord have mercy on those murderers who sent the miners into harm’s way for a dollar.
art4750, no one mentions the nationality of two of the trapped miners because it simply does not matter to any rational person. The fact that this mine was non-union means that all the workers were working for less money and worse conditions.
Why can’t they continue to look for the miners? Union workers or not, a life is a life. The company should NOT give up on them.
Mr. Bob Murray said he would bring the men off the mountain. I believe he will do that. There is no defense for the workplace environment that goes from from bad to worse to hell. Got a problem with safety conditions in your workplace? Outcry. Document. Repeat. Got a problem with the job that puts the daily bread on the table? Leave it before it kills ya. Stay and … use the rest of the hours in your day to go to school. Stay and … do what you have to do. Come see us in Corpus Christi, Texas. The fish are biting and the mosquitos will be next week. Thanks and God Bless.
Mr. Bob Murray stated he would bring the men off the mountain. I believe he will do so. OUTCRY if you have the reasonable belief of unsafe workplace conditions. Outcry, document, repeat. QUIT if the job makes you uneasy. GO TO SCHOOL in the hours you have left in the day from the job that gives you&yours food, shelter, and the basic needs/wants of life. PRAY that mercy and justice and love flow in full measure to all that live. I believe Bob Murray will do right by the Miners and their Families and honor the perished Rescue/Recovery Team members. I hope his health holds up. Thank you. Take care.
Murray, Stickler and Moore are three reasons why the miners were trapped in the mine to begin with, and they are the very same reasons why the miners may now never be found. I don’t imagine that these three individuals would care to venture down into an unsafe mine to retrieve the coal that should have been left to support the mines. What smug arrogance!!! And the fact that Stickler was secretly appointed by the president to head the MSHA, inspite of even Republican disapproval tells us plenty. He is not qualified, does not understand the job, is not at all in a position to protect miner’s health and safety, and - so why was he appointed??? If you can see the pattern here, he’s a Bush friend and ally, and dangerous to American workers.
I feel like America gave up on them, it is very sad to think they were left there. Maybe if they were over in Iraq Bush would spend more time and money to get to them.
I have a question. Since the 6 miners never left their worksite, why isn’t their families still collecting their pay checks and all their benefits? I assume they had to punch in on the day of the disaster and I am pretty sure they haven’t punched out yet. I believe that they should be paid regularly until their bodies are finally returned to their loved ones. What do you think?