8-21-07, 12:18 pm
The Crandall Canyon Mine has claimed three lives. Six miners have been trapped since an August 6th collapse. Three rescue workers were killed and six others injured in a second collapse on August 16th.
On Friday the 17th, the federal authorities indefinitely suspended underground rescue operations. Luis Alonso Hernandez, Manuel Sanchez, Kerry Allred, Brandon Phillips, Don Erickson, and Carlos Payan have been trapped for two weeks.
Now Robert E. Murray, the millionaire co-owner and Republican Party donor, wants to seal off the collapsed area and resume operations in other parts of the mine.
Indicating that tons of coal and millions in profits are still waiting to be extracted from the mine, Murray suggested that profits were more valuable to him than the lives of the very people who have helped make him extremely rich.
Murray also hinted at an upcoming public relations battle by saying he planned to change the mine's name if and when operations resumed around the entombed bodies of the trapped miners.
Murray's comments and the decision to halt rescue efforts sparked anger.
Steve Allred, brother of trapped miner Kerry Allred, told reporters, 'They're basically giving up. We can't accept that. One way or another, we've got to have closure.'
Other community members expressed shock at Murray's comments.
Mike Dalpiaz, vice president of United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) District 22, said, 'To us, that would be sacred ground.' Dalpiaz said his union would stand with mining families on the issue of resuming operations at the mine.
UMWA President Cecil E. Roberts was quoted in the Salt Lake City Tribune as saying, 'In an industry long known for having quite a few greedy and uncaring mine operators, [Murray's] statement is perhaps the most calloused I have ever heard.'
The mayor of nearby Price, Utah, caught between the mine operators and the voters whose family members work in the mines, waffled. He urged careful consideration of plans to resume operations.
After a flurry of media reports revealing the Crandall Canyon Mine's failure to follow federal safety procedures and the inability of the weakened Mine Safety and Health Administration under the Bush administration to enforce safety, new calls for reforms have arisen.
The UMWA and mine safety advocates urge passage of the MINER Act as a good first step in beefing up safety standards in mines.
The MINER Act would strengthen federal oversight and enforcement of safety regulations. The bill would stiffen penalties against scofflaws and protect miners who complain about safety issues from retaliation by mine owners. Additionally, safety equipment such as gas detectors and communication equipment would be made mandatory.
--Reach Joel Wendland at
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