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Six coal miners are trapped in a coal mine in Huntington, Utah. http://tinyurl.com/2yablp

The men were caught in a cave-in at the Crandall Canyon mine before dawn Monday. Rescue crews know exactly where six trapped miners are located, but were forced to turn around late Monday because of "impassable conditions," the mine's operator said.

The authorities say the miners are thought to have been working about four miles from the mine's entrance at the time of the incident. They emphasized they are confident of the miners' location.

There is no word on their condition. "They can be in a chamber in that is 1,000 feet long, or they could be dead." It could take 48 hours to reach the miners, but if they are still alive "there's water and air and their lunch boxes of food for far beyond that."

Edit to clarify & update subject title.  MB

Update:
http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?id=13907313&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

Efforts to Reach 6 Utah Miners Failing
Monday, August 6, 2007 10:30 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By PAUL FOY Associated Press Writer

HUNTINGTON, Utah (AP) — Hundreds of rescuers struggled with falling rock and debris Monday in a desperate race to reach six coal miners trapped 1,500 feet below ground by a cave-in so powerful authorities initially thought it was an earthquake.

As the rescue stretched into the night, workers were unable to make significant progress and the initial effort was declared a failure.

"I'm very disappointed. That's one step backward," Robert E. Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp. of Cleveland, a part owner of the Crandall Canyon mine, told reporters at an evening briefing.

More than 16 hours after the collapse, which did not appear related to an explosion, searchers had been unable to contact the miners and could not say whether they were dead or alive. If they survived, Murray said, they could have enough air and water to last several days.

"We're going to get them," he said. "There is nothing on my mind right now except getting those miners out."

The mining crew was believed to be about four miles from the mine entrance. Rescuers were working to free the men by drilling into the mine vertically from the mountaintop and horizontally from the side, Murray said. Officials estimated that drilling vertically could take three days.

If they are able to open an old mine shaft, Murray said, rescuers believe they can get within 100 feet of where the men are trapped.

"The idea is to get a hole into where they are," Murray said. "They could be in a chamber 1,000 feet long or they could be dead. We just don't know right now."

Doug Johnson, director of corporate services at an affiliated company, UtahAmerican Energy, said rescuers had made "decent progress," but they were not much closer to the men.

Relatives of the miners waited for news at a nearby senior center. Many of the family members don't speak English, so Huntington Mayor Hilary Gordon hugged them, put her hands over her heart and then clasped them together to let them know she was praying for them, she said.

"Past experience tells us these things don't go very well," said Gordon, whose husband is a former miner.

Outside the senior center, Ariana Sanchez, 16, said her father Manuel Sanchez, 42, was among the trapped miners. She said she cried when her mother told her the news, and declined further comment.

The mine uses a method called "retreat mining," in which pillars of coal are used to hold up an area of the mine's roof. When that area is completely mined, the company pulls the pillar and grabs the useful coal, causing an intentional collapse. Experts say it is one of the most dangerous mining methods.

Federal mine-safety inspectors, who have issued more than 300 citations against the mine since January 2004, were also on hand to help oversee the search.

Murray said no expense would be spared to save the men. The company had enlisted the help of 200 employees and four rescue crews, and brought in all available equipment from around the state.

The mine is built into a mountain in the rugged Manti-La Sal National Forest, 140 miles south of Salt Lake City, in a sparsely populated area.

By mid-afternoon, rescuers were within 1,700 feet of the miners' presumed location, Murray said. It was not known what kind of breathing equipment the miners had.

University of Utah seismograph stations recorded seismic waves of 3.9 magnitude around early Monday in the area of the mine, causing speculation that a minor earthquake had caused the cave-in. Scientists later realized the collapse at the mine had caused the disturbance, reported to authorities around 4 a.m. But by late afternoon, they said a natural earthquake could not be ruled out and more information was needed to conclusively determine what happened.

Murray said the earthquake's epicenter was a mile from the trapped miners.

"The whole problem has been caused by an earthquake," Murray angrily insisted.

Since the mid-1990s, at least a half-dozen other mine collapses have caused similar seismic waves, including a 1995 cave-in in southwestern Wyoming that caused readings as high as a magnitude 5.4.

Murray believed the miners have plenty of air because oxygen naturally leaks into the mine. The mine also is stocked with drinking water.

"I'm so hopeful for those guys. They should have lots of oxygen to breathe," said Mary Ann Wright, associate director for mining in the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining.

"From not having heard that there's any type of fire, that's always good news. If they're trapped in a cavern area, there should be oxygen to breathe," Wright said.

Government mine inspectors have issued 325 citations against the mine since January 2004, according to a quick analysis of federal Mine Safety and Health Administration online records. Of those, 116 were what the government considered "significant and substantial," meaning they are likely to cause injury.

The 325 safety violations is not unusual, said J. Davitt McAteer, former head of the MHSA and now vice president of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia.

"It's not perfect but it's certainly not bad," McAteer said. "It would be in the medium range."

In 2007, inspectors have issued 32 citations against the mine, 14 of them considered significant.

Last month, inspectors cited the mine for violating a rule requiring that at least two separate passageways be designated for escape in an emergency.

It was the third time in less than two years that the mine had been cited for the same problem, according to MSHA records. In 2005, MSHA ordered the mine owners to pay $963 for not having escapeways and the 2006 fine for the same problem was just $60.

Overall, the federal government has ordered the mine owner to pay nearly $152,000 in penalties for its 325 violations with many citations having no fines calculated yet. Since January, the mine owner has paid $130,678 in fines, according to MSHA records.

Asked about safety, Murray told reporters: "I believe we run a very safe coal mine. We've had an excellent record."

Gov. Jon Huntsman broke away from a wildfire forum in Boise, Idaho, to return to Utah.

"We're going to expend every resource we have and make every effort to make sure lives are put first and foremost," he said as he departed Boise.

The head of MSHA, Richard Stickler, said he would be at the site Tuesday.

Utah ranked 12th in coal production in 2006. It had 13 underground coal mines in 2005, the most recent statistics available, according to the Utah Geological Survey.

Emery County, the state's No. 2 coal-producer, also was the site of a fire that killed 27 people in the Wilburg mine in December 1984.

———

Associated Press writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

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Mine ower, undoubtedly facing threat of litigation and administrative fines, keeps yapping about 'an earthquake'. Seismologists are not convinced.

Yes, the mine owner is very convincing regarding seismic activity.

On occasion for some reason a particular story will catch my eye, and I'll follow it with more than a passing level of interest. This is one of those stories.

I have no mining relatives, and no connection to the story other than what Shepard Smith spoonfeeds me.

I really want to believe these guys are alive. In fact, I was somewhat surprised when the first drill, then the second drill heard no sounds.

They're doing a press conference now. Let's pray for some good news.

Hi Dugga!

I don't have mining relatives either but when my father finished high school in PA in the early 30s, he was sent to work at the coal mines like everyone else. He ran away and joined the Army.

Thank you for your post. This story caught my eye also.

I too am praying for the miners and their families.

This story is close to my heart as I am a real life coal miners daughter, grandaughter etc. I pray they are alive but I don't have a good feeling about it.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1628546

Precedent Set for Miners Surviving Long Rescues
August 12th, 2007 @ 9:41pm
Tonya Papanikolas Reporting

Many are starting to wonder if the six trapped miners could survive this long underground. We did some research and found at least 11 instances of miners being trapped eight days or longer.

In May of last year, two Australian miners trapped a half-mile underground were rescued after 14 days. Rescue teams were able to deliver food and water to the men before getting them out.

The year before, a gypsum miner was rescued in China after 11 days. Around the world, similar stories prevail.

In 1972, two men in Idaho were found in good condition after eight days trapped in a silver mine. Three miners also survived eight days in a flooded China mine. And in 2002, China coal miners survived underground on tree bark and muddy water for eight days.

In 1958 a bump shook a coal mine in Nova Scotia. The last group of survivors was pulled out after nine days. In West Virginia, six workers were freed 10 days after water flooded a coal mine in the 60s.

In South Korea in 1982, it took 14 days to rescue coal miners trapped 800 feet underground. Years earlier, a miner in that country survived 15 days underground. That's the same time it took rescuers to find two miners trapped in a collapsed mine in China in 2005.

But the longest successful mine rescue came in 1983. After 23 long days, two trapped Chinese miners were freed.

Most of the time in these cases, rescuers had made some kind of initial contact with the workers, but not always. In one instance, rescuers had found nothing until the 15th day, when they were rummaging through rubble, heard a faint voice and found two men.


 

Wow. Thanks for the info, Klaas. There's still hope.

Thanks for the info.
Something has to be done about all the accidents.

Originally, Mr. Murray said they were confident they knew the miners location. Apparently, as time has passed, they don't know exactly where the miners are located. So far, they can't establish contact via video or microphone. I am praying.

According to a news conference just a few minutes ago. They have lowered geophones into the 3rd hole. They registered 5 spikes on the graph. Do not know if this "noise" is from the miners or not.

I also heard there was some "noise." I saw on FOX today that they are making trips into the mine with coal carts and bringing out rubble in order to eventually get into the mine through the front entrance. I guess they have to keep going until they find the miners, in whatever state they are in.

I feel really on edge about this.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293362,00.html

Rescuers Detect Noise in Efforts to Reach Trapped Utah Coal Miners
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Images from a videocamera lowered Wednesday into the mine where six men were trapped 10 days ago showed an undamaged shaft and a curtain that could mean the men, if they survived the initial blast, found breathable air, the mine's co-owner said.

Rescue officials were reviewing the images, which were the first from a camera lowered into the third borehole drilled into the mountain. The camera picked up no sign of the miners, but showed a hemp ventilation curtain that divides intake air in the mine from the exhaust air.

If the miners passed through the ventilation curtain, they would be in a pocket of good air, mine co-owner Bob Murray told The Associated Press late Wednesday.

"There was no damage at all. The roof is intact; no ribs have outburst. The floors are in place — it looked just as it did when we mined it," he said. "If the men went in there, they could be alive."

Earlier Wednesday, some noise was detected by devices monitoring vibrations in the mountain, raising "a very small amount" of hope that the men might be found alive, officials said.

The sounds detected by two geophones could be a rock breaking underground or even an animal, said Richard Stickler, chief of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

"We saw some indication of noise for a period of about five minutes that we had not seen before," Stickler said.

While the source of the noise wasn't known, Stickler said it had "created a very small amount of hope and optimism" among the families.

There are a total of six geophones on the mountain, all of which picked up measured noise Wednesday morning, some stronger than others, Murry said. The vibrations occurred every 1.5 seconds, in a steady pattern for five minutes, he said.

"We have no idea what that sound is, but we are going to know when we get the fourth hole down there," Murray said.

Plans for the location of a fourth borehole, to begin Thursday, had changed because of the "unusual" noise readings, both men said.

Murray, who is chief of Murray Energy Corp., the co-owner and operator of the Crandall Canyon Mine, also cautioned: "Don't read too much into this noise we picked up, but it is a sign of hope."

Still, experts say the chances of finding the men alive are slim.

As crews slowly dig a path to the men's presumed location at the Crandall Canyon Mine, the narrow drill holes sunk deep into the mountain amount to little more than educated guesses.

"There are a lot of possibilities," Stickler said. "We started with logical thinking: 'If I were in this situation, what would I do?' That has guided us in where we look."

The men could be huddled together or spread out anywhere in an underground area the size of several football fields.

"There's always a chance. You have to hang on to that chance. But realistically it is small, quite small," said J. Davitt McAteer, former head of the MSHA and now vice president of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. "You would have to have every single break and divine intervention to successfully extract these guys."

The Aug. 6 cave-in released low-oxygen air from sealed chambers into the working area of the mine. Downward pressure on the walls sent chunks of coal flying like bullets through the shaft.

Two holes drilled into the mine have not located the men. The third drill broke through Wednesday into an area where officials say the men may have sought refuge.

"We're going to keep drilling until we find these miners," Murray said Wednesday. Still, he cautioned that the initial blast inside the mountain may have killed the men instantly.

Mining rescues after 10 or more days are not unheard of. In May 2006, two miners were rescued after being trapped for 14 days following a collapse at an Australian mine. In 1968, six miners were rescued after 10 days in West Virginia.

The effort to dig out a rubble-filled tunnel was proceeding slowly Wednesday and could last another week to go more than 1,200 feet before reaching the area where the miners were believed to be working.

The miners "know damn well we're doing what we can to get to them, and we're going to get there — no doubt about it," Bodee Allred, the mine's safety manager, said Wednesday in his coal-blackened overalls.

Allred, who has a cousin trapped inside the mine, said the force of the collapse was "definitely something I've never seen before."

The thunderous collapse blew out the walls of mine shafts, filling them with rubble. If the men were not crushed by rock, their bodies could have been crushed by the immense air pressure generated by the collapse, mining executives and federal regulators have said.

And if they survived that, they could have died from lack of oxygen, even though fresh air is now being pumped down one of the drill holes.

My great grandfather was a coal miner as was my grandfather and several of his many sons.My grandfather died in a mining accident as did his oldest son, so these mining disasters always get my attention.The town I grew up in originated as a mining town although the mines are no longer in operation.This tragedy has me really anxious and although I don't have alot of hope that they will be found alive I am praying for a miracle.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1650922

BREAKING NEWS

Ambulances Called to Crandall Canyon Mine
August 16th, 2007 @ 7:52pm
(KSL News) There's been a flurry of activity at the Crandall Canyon mine tonight. Early reports from NBC Network News suggest that four rescue miners have been injured.

The situation seems to have started at about 7:20 this evening. The Emery County sheriff was seen driving quickly up the road, followed by ambulance. Another ambulance followed and a helicopter also appeared to have landed at the site.

Just minutes later an ambulance came back down. One ambulance left the scene with a person inside performing chest compressions on someone.

Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon declined to comment. We'll keep you updated as details become available.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1650922

Rescue Worker Killed, Others Injured at Utah Mine
August 16th, 2007 @ 8:51pm

AP/KSL) -- A disastrous cave-in Thursday night killed a rescue worker and injured at least eight others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach six trapped miners, authorities said.

"All rescue workers have been evacuated from the mine. Nine rescue workers were injured in the accident. One of those suffered fatal injuries," said Dirk Fillpot, a spokesman for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

(snipped)

Three Die in Rescue Effort at Utah Mine
By PAUL FOY,AP
Posted: 2007-08-17 07:00:37
Filed Under: Nation News


HUNTINGTON, Utah (Aug. 17) - The search for six miners missing deep underground was abruptly halted after a second cave-in killed three rescue workers and injured at least six others who were trying to tunnel through rubble to reach them.
It was a devastating turn for the families of the six men trapped in the Aug. 6 collapse at the Crandall Canyon mine and for the relatives of those trying to rescue them. It's not known if the six are alive.

All rescue workers were evacuated from the mine Thursday evening and work underground was stopped. Asked if the search would be suspended, "that's something to be determined," said Rich Kulczewski, a U.S. Department of Labor spokesman.

The cave-in at 6:39 p.m. was caused by a mountain bump in which pressure can force chunks of coal from walls of the mine with great force. Seismologists say such a bump caused the Aug. 6 cave-in that trapped the six men more than 3 miles inside the central Utah mine. That led to the frenetic effort by rescuers to dig through the mine toward the men and drill narrow holes atop the mountain in an attempt to learn their whereabouts and perhaps drop down food and water.

It was not immediately clear where the rescuers were working or what they were doing when Thursday's bump occurred.

Underground, rescuers had advanced only 826 feet in nine days. Before Thursday's cave-in, workers still had about 1,200 feet to go to reach the area where they believe the trapped men had been working.

Mining officials said conditions in the mine were treacherous, and they were frequently forced to halt digging because of seismic activity.

A day after the initial collapse, the rescuers were pushed back 300 feet when a bump shook the mountain and filled the tunnel with rubble.

The digging had been set back Wednesday night, when a coal excavating machine was half buried by rubble by seismic shaking. Another mountain bump interrupted work briefly Thursday morning.

"The seismic activity underground has just been relentless. The mountain is still alive, the mountain is still moving and we cannot endanger the rescue workers as we drive toward these trapped miners," said Bob Murray, chief of Murray Energy Corp., the co-owner and operator of the Crandall Canyon mine.

On top of the mountain, rescuers were drilling a fourth hole on Thursday, aiming for a spot where devices called "geophones" had detected mysterious vibrations in the mountain. Kulczewski said he believed that work continued after the accident.

No details were available early Friday about the official cause of the rescuers' deaths. Their identities were not released. Injuries to the survivors ranged from cuts and scrapes to head and chest trauma.

Six of the injured were taken to Castleview Hospital in Price. One rescuer died there, one was airlifted to a Salt Lake City hospital, one was released and three were being treated, said Jeff Manley, the hospital's chief executive.

The second dead worker passed away at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank said. Another worker there was in serious condition with head trauma but was alert, she said.

The third death was confirmed by Kulczewski, the Labor Department spokesman.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman flew to the hospital in Price early Friday and planned to meet with mine safety officials later in the day to discuss the future of the rescue operation.

Huntsman said he did not want underground tunneling to resume, but that the decision rested with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

"We're pushing for that to cease right now unless MSHA and others can guarantee that it can continue safely," he said. "Whatever happens, we're going to want to ensure that it is done safely and that may take a little while.

"We as a state don't want any more injuries," he added. "We've had enough."

Before the latest cave-in, officials said the third of three holes drilled reached an intact chamber with potentially breathable air.

Video images were obscured by water running down that bore hole, but officials said they could see beyond it to an undamaged chamber in the rear of the mine. It yielded no sign the miners had been there.

Murray said it would take at least two days for the latest drill to reach its target, in an area where a seismic listening device detected a "noise" or vibration in 1.5-second increments and lasting for five minutes. The drilling began Thursday.

Officials say it's impossible to know what caused the vibrations and clarified the limits of the technology.

The geophone can pinpoint the direction of the source of the disturbance, but it can't tell whether it came from within the mine, the layers of rock above the mine or from the mountain's surface, said MSHA chief Richard Stickler.

The "noise," a term he used a day before, wasn't anything officials could hear, Stickler said. "Really, it's not sounds but vibrations."

Officials stressed that the motion picked up by the geophones could be unrelated to the mine, even as they drilled the new hole in an effort to uncover the source of it.

Associated Press writers Chris Kahn, Alicia A. Caldwell and Jessica Gresko in Huntington, Ed White in Salt Lake City and Jennifer Talhelm in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.


http://news.aol.com/story/ar/_a/three-die-in-rescue-effort-at-utah-mine/20070806121809990001

Last night as I was falling asleep I heard Greta mention something about calling off the search now? Meaning as in for good? I was out of it and didn't completely understand.
I cannot imagine what the families must be going through.

Crews drill promising fourth hole into Utah mine

http://tinyurl.com/2h2kdx

This article includes a graph showing the first hole drilled that missed the area the miners are presumed to be in, along with other attempts. The hole being drilled now at an angle seems to be showing some promise.  I hope the miners can be reached, and if alive given food, water and air & to at least get some more time to help them.

Thanks Muffy.

 Mine VP: Rescuers 'will not give up hope' despite setbacks
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/19/utah.mine/

Fox has been showing clips of the VP of the mining company...there were discussions with the families of the 6 miners this AM, and they were told that the men may never be found.  Even though most of us thought the rescue may possibly fail, we still all had hope we were wrong. 

This is really sad news.  The families were told the men may never be found?  How heartbreaking.  And yes, I had hope they would be found.  It sounded bad when it happened and got worse from there.  I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry....haven't figured out why some of us can't get the quote thing done right on this new forum.   :2doh:

Thank you for bringing the article 2NJSons.  Don't worry bout the quote thing.  We know what you meant. :smt056

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6957151.stm

Trapped US miners 'probably dead'
Bob Murray, co-owner of the mine
Bob Murray said he had warned the miners' families to expect the worst
The families of six miners missing since a tunnel collapsed two weeks ago have been warned the men are probably dead and may never be found.

Bob Murray, co-owner of the Utah mine, said he had told relatives he was "not optimistic they will be found alive".

Some families have accused officials of giving up too soon on the rescue.

Below-ground efforts were halted last week after three rescuers died in a cave-in. The US mine safety body has said the mine is structurally unstable.

No contact has been made with the trapped miners since a tunnel collapsed 1,500ft (457m) underground on 6 August.

Listening devices and cameras lowered into the mine have failed to find signs of life.

Rescue capsule

Above-ground rescue efforts are continuing, with workers expected to finish drilling a fifth hole, reaching 2,039ft into the mine, on Tuesday evening.

   
I picture my dad wondering 'Where the hell are they?
Cody Allred
Son of missing miner

Tests from a fourth hole drilled more than 1,500ft (457m) into the mountainside found the air quality could not sustain life.

Relatives of the trapped miners have called on officials to start drilling a large enough hole to send down a rescue capsule to bring out the men.

Cody Allred, whose father Kerry is among the six missing men, told the Associated Press news agency: "I picture my dad wondering 'Where the hell are they? Any time now'," he said.

Mine safety experts have warned that it would be pointless to send down a capsule without knowing the exact location of the trapped miners and that sending workers down in it to search would put more lives at risk because the mountain is still shifting.

A sign put up in Huntington in memory of the killed rescue workers
Below-ground efforts were halted after three rescuers were killed
It could, in any case, take weeks to drill the 30-inch (76cm) hole.

Mr Murray, chief executive of Murray Energy Corporation, which jointly owns the mine, said on Monday night he had been "very forthright" in spelling out the situation to the families.

"Their reception with me was not good, but at some point the reality must sink in."

His announcement reflects a shift in tone by mine officials, who initially said they were confident the miners would be found alive.

Speaking on Sunday, Sonny Olsen, a spokesman for the families, told AFP news agency: "We are at the mercies of the officials in charge and their so-called experts. Precious time is being squandered and we do not have time to waste."

'Unacceptable risk'

Richard Stickler, head of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said the unstable nature of the mine, where seismic activity continues, made it too dangerous to work below ground.

"This means the suspension we have on the underground operation will remain indefinitely," he told reporters on Monday.

"The risk is unacceptable to send mine-rescue teams underground for the purpose of exploration."

Rescue teams had tunnelled about 250m towards the trapped miners, with about 350m to go, when the second accident happened last Thursday.

It was caused by a "mountain bump" - a build-up of pressure inside a mine from overhead rock that forces surrounding rock and coal to shoot out of the walls with great force.

Well I'm confused. Which is it?  Will the mine be closed?  Or will the mine be opened?  Or will part of the mine be closed and part of it left open?  Here are two articles dated 8/22:

Bid to Reopen Mine Divides Grieving Utah Town
http://tinyurl.com/2p9y98

Murray Says Crandall Canyon Mine to Be Closed
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13866983

Here is the most recent press conference.  

'I Believe They Are Dead'

(KUTV) HUNTINGTON - An owner of the Crandall Canyon coal mine on Wednesday said that there will be no more underground digging inside the mountain -- because there is no point in risking rescuers' lives when there hasn't been one single indication that any of the six missing miners are alive.

Responding to harsh criticisms, leveled by the missing miners' families, mine co-owner Robert Murray said that it makes no sense to resume a rescue operation -- and that he believes all six miners are now dead.

(snipped)
http://kutv.com/


(http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/klaasen3/videos/th_7F852947_15590020070822960_000445p4.jpg) (http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o100/klaasen3/videos/?action=view&current=7F852947_15590020070822960_000445p4.flv)

6th Mine Borehole Last Hope

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_on_re_us/utah_mine_collapse

I have a friend in San Francisco who is a moderator on Firedoglake which is a political web blog.

She says Bush cut funding to mine companies because the cost of ensuring miners' safety was too high. For the first time since the 1920s, mine deaths are up.  They had fallen every year but since Bush cut safety requirements, deaths are up.

I find this ironic because the mine owner, Robert Murray, is a big time Bush donator. He is considered a 'Ranger' which would place him in donations in excess of $200K.  Firedoglake has posts about mine safety - including information about Murray and his donations to Bush.

This is a classic example of how the GOP is destructive. This is a travesty of a mockery of government. For all Murray's huge contributions to Bush, he got screwed in a big way. I feel his life as a mine owner is over. He will be hit by huge lawsuits and Bush is not going to bail him out. What a President, huh? 

(taking deep breath)  grrrrr

Mine boss, Utah governor spar over collapse

*snipped*
 Meanwhile Saturday, officials said a sixth borehole was being drilled into the mountain mine in an effort to continue trying to detect the men. The hole was to be completed late Saturday at the earliest.


http://tinyurl.com/3x8n5f

Sad, sad news:
Lawyer:  Hole Finds No Sign of Miners
8/25/07
HUNTINGTON, Utah -

The latest holed drilled into a collapsed mine where six men are trapped broke through an area too small for the men to survive, a lawyer for several of the men's families said Saturday.

"The only thing they told us is there is no void where the sixth hole is; there is no space," attorney Colin King said after a meeting between the families and mine officials.
*snipped*
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/25/ap4054112.html

Before this story falls out of the news altogether, I can't help but wonder if the families of these men will ever see a proper burial for their loved ones.

It's too dangerous to go in and get the bodies, and they can't go in from above again (or it seems they won't). I heard that the families are now suggesting that they drill wider holes that rescue capsules could fit into. They are suggesting that they drill straight down to get to where they believe the men were.

I certainly hope that the families get their wishes - if it's a feasible plan.

While I think the mining accident is terrible, I couldn't disagree with you more, Louise.

Personally, I see the war or terror being a far more worthy cause than government subsidies to mining companies for safety compliance. Terrorism is a far greater threat. And although you didn't directly allude to one affecting the other, I can't help but think that the Bush administration feels that they need to "pick their battles".

You never hear anyone say "Wow, I sure am glad we spent the extra money on homeland security! We haven't had any terror attacks since 9/11."

But if we hadn't spent the money on homeland security, you can bet your ass that there WOULD have been attacks by now, and the president would be getting the blame for it.

I'm willing to admit that I might be naive. But I just don't think you can lay the Utah mining disaster on the shoulders of the Bush administration.

http://tinyurl.com/3ao6bx

Search to Go on for Trapped Utah Miners
Published: 8/26/07, 5:06 PM EDT
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
HUNTINGTON, Utah (AP) - Despite three weeks of drilling and digging that have revealed no signs of life from six men trapped inside a collapsed coal mine, an attorney for families of the miners said Sunday the search will continue.

Lawyer Colin King said federal and company officials told him and the miners' relatives that a robotic camera would be lowered into a hole drilled during previous efforts to find the men.

The camera is similar to one used to search within the wreckage of the World Trade Center in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It can take images in the darkened cavern from about 50 yards away with the help of a strong light, and has a much wider range than previous cameras used in the search efforts in part because of its ability to crawl through rubble, he said.

"We're very excited about it. The families are thrilled to hear this," King said.

The announcement came a day after crews penetrated the mine with a sixth borehole, finding a debris-filled area too small for the men to survive, according to King and the Web site of the federal mine safety agency.

Federal and company officials said a Sunday afternoon news conference was planned on those results.

King said a mine company lawyer told families that a seventh borehole was being considered. That one might be drilled into the kitchen area of the mine, an area where miners are trained to flee in case of collapse.

Cesar Sanchez, brother of trapped miner Manuel Sanchez, said the prospect of a seventh hole encouraged the families, who had been outraged when told that the search might end after the sixth hole had been drilled.

"It brings the hope back up. We needed that and we're going to keep going until we find these guys," he said.

King said the robotic camera would lowered into the fourth borehole, which was drilled more than 1,500 feet into the mountain. That was done after mysterious vibrations were detected by aboveground monitors for about 5 minutes on Aug. 15, but when that drill broke through three days later, there was silence. Crews spent at least four hours banging on the drill steel and setting off explosives in an effort to get a response, but without results.

Air monitors sent into that area of the mine showed insufficient oxygen to support life.

The Crandall Canyon miners were last heard from about 3 a.m. Aug. 6, just before a thunderous shudder inside the mountain cracked the ribs of the mine and filled passageways with debris, cutting off an exit route. It's never been clear if they survived the cave-in.

Earlier bore holes produced hazy images and air samples so depleted of oxygen as to be unable to support life. Repeated efforts to signal the miners have met with silence.

Horizontal digging through the rubble-filed mine shaft was halted after a second collapse killed three rescuers and injured six others Aug. 16.

Federal Mine Health and Safety Administration officials say the instability of the mountain makes it too risky to resume underground digging or to drill a hole widen enough to send a manned rescue capsule into the mine.

Seismologists describe the mountain as crumbling in upon itself, bursting support pillars as it shifts in a phenomena known as mountain bumps.

Despite promises made to the men's families to find the six miners dead or alive, mine co-owner Bob Murray had said the sixth borehole, drilled more than 1,700 feet deep, would be the last before sealing the mine.

"If we don't find anybody alive, there is nowhere else that anyone in MSHA or our company would know anywhere to drill," Murray said last week.

MSHA officials have not specifically said they'll close the mine, but have grown increasingly pessimistic about the chances of finding the men alive or even recovering their bodies.

Robotic Camera to be sent into Utah mine
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/26/utah.mine/index.html
 (CNN) -- Rescuers plan Monday to lower a robotic camera through a bore hole in a collapsed Utah mine to find miners who have been trapped for nearly three weeks.

Jack Kuzar of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said a seventh hole will be drilled into Crandall Canyon mine, just outside Huntington, Utah.

A sixth hole drilled into the mine was the latest to have yielded no useful information about the trapped miners' fate, said Kuzar, adding the robotic camera will be lowered through either the third or fourth hole already dug.

Robin Murphy, a mechanical engineer and director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said the special camera is similar to one used to search in the debris of the World Trade Center following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But she cautioned there is less than a 50 percent chance of finding any "additional information," citing the rocky and muddy conditions in the mine.
*snipped*

Utah mine closes, seventh hole drilled and robot lowered
http://tinyurl.com/yvdgl4

Latest camera trip into Utah mine finds little


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-30-utah-mine_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

MuffyBee -- thanks for posting the updates. My heart aches for the families of the miners.

Utah Mine Rescue Called Of After Almost Four Weeks

August 31, 2007 10:46 p.m. EST

Matthew Borghese - AHN News Writer

Salt Lake City, UT (AHN) - Federal authorities have suspended efforts to find six miners who have been trapped underground for almost four weeks.

Rescue workers still have no signs that the miners are alive, following a collapse at the Crandall Canyon Mine. Authorities have been working to save the lives of miners Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips and Manuel Sanchez who have been trapped since August

However, despite multiple attempts to make contact with the miners, there remains no evidence that the six men survived the collapse.

"They said, 'We've exhausted the options that we know about,'" attorney Colin King, who represents the families of the missing miners, said.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008376842

Bless the miners, their families and friends. 

September 06, 2007
Robot-Assisted Rescuers Seek Answers in Wake of Utah Mine Collapse

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=DB306EAE-E7F2-99DF-391FE3B80A4AECF0&chanID=sa007

Funeral Services This Week For 3 Trapped Miners
http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_248121007.html

MSHA head testifies agency wasn't aware of earlier 'bump' at Crandall Canyon mine
By Thomas Burr http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_6807178

Thousands attend mine country's Celebration of Heroes
By Steve Fidel
Deseret Morning News
Published: Sept. 16, 2007 12:16 a.m. MDT
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695210543,00.html
HUNTINGTON, Emery County — An outdoor community concert Saturday was called the right event at the right time for a community still reeling from the coal mine tragedy that claimed nine lives and left six others injured.

"It's breathtaking. I don't know what else to say," said Lee Cratsenburg, whose brother, Dale Black, was one of the three men killed trying to rescue the six miners trapped Aug. 6 in the Crandall Canyon Mine.
(snipped)
The mayor said the Governor's Commission on Mine Safety, formed after the Crandall Canyon disaster, will also hold a daylong meeting in Huntington on Sept. 25. Miners interested in giving their input to the committee will be invited to participate in the meeting that Gordon said will likely last the entire day.

----------------------------------------------------
Nation in brief: $300,000 donated to men who died in Utah mine
Posted on Fri, Sep. 14, 2007 10:40 PM
Victims’ families aided
http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/276194.html
HUNTINGTON, Utah | More than $300,000 has been donated to the families of the nine men who died last month inside the Crandall Canyon mine, the mayor said Friday.

Each of the nine families has received at least $15,000 so far, said Mayor Hilary Gordon, who established and controls the two funds. Donations are still arriving, and the city plans to keep disbursing donations to families in equal amounts.
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BLOCKED WEBSITE

Dec 24, 1:52 PM EST

After Collapse, Utah Mine's Fate Unclear

By PAUL FOY
Associated Press Writer
 HUNTINGTON, Utah (AP) -- A lone watchman guards Utah's Crandall Canyon mine, protecting what is more a tomb than a coal operation.

The shaft has been walled off with cinderblocks, and makeshift memorials and Christmas wreaths serve as reminders of the twin disasters that took place there last summer.

On Aug. 6, six miners were caught in a thunderous cave-in. Then, on Aug. 16, three men were killed in another collapse while trying to tunnel through the quivering mountain to the victims. After that, the rescue was abandoned.

Nearly five months later, the cause of the original disaster is still under investigation, and the fate of the mine - and the miners - is unresolved, officially at least.

The state refuses to declare the six miners dead without bodies.

The mine's co-owner, Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., will not say whether it plans to reopen it. But such a move - which would require the approval of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management - appears unlikely.

The mine doesn't have much coal left, and since the accident, the company has stripped it of conveyer belts, power lines and other equipment and let shafts fill with water, said James F. Kohler, a BLM official in Utah.

"Obviously it would take a significant expense to reopen the mine," Kohler said.

Nor is it known whether the six bodies can ever be recovered.

"We are always leaving the door open," said Kevin Stricklin, who oversees coal mine safety for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The twin disasters are under investigation by federal regulators, a state commission and various congressional committees.

Lawyers for the families of the men killed in the initial disaster contend that at the time, the company was pulling down pillars of coal supporting the ceiling.

Murray Energy chief Bob Murray has insisted that retreat mining, as the practice is called, had nothing to do with the collapse. He argued from the start that it was caused by an earthquake.

Huntington is a hardscrabble town of 2,000 where coal mining is considered an honorable profession, and it's hard to find anything that pays more.

Mayor Hilary Gordon said many residents are conflicted over the disaster: They hate federal regulation but want the mines kept safe. They worry about unsafe mining, but won't speak publicly for fear a family member will lose a job paying $50,000 or more a year.

What made the rescue attempt so poignant was that every miner knew that there was almost no chance they would find any of the trapped men alive, and that some probably would die trying.

"But they weren't going to be the ones that would ever give up hope," said Wendy Black, widow of section boss Dale "Bird" Black, who was at the forefront of the rescue effort, operating a 65-ton grinding machine that bored its way through the rubble toward the trapped miners.

According to Murray Energy, Black volunteered for the job when nobody else wanted it. Miners said it wasn't the danger of another cave-in that bothered them - it was the fear that they wouldn't be able to stop the machine before it started ripping a buried body to pieces.

Black told his wife that when it was all over, he was going to need some help.

Black, 48, never encountered any of the trapped miners, dead or alive. He took the full brunt of another cave-in that killed him and two other would-be rescuers. Flying chunks of coal snapped his neck, broke his back and crushed most of the bones of his face.

"My husband, what he did was very honorable. What he did for those families was just the way he was. He lived every day as big as he died," said his widow, who lost her father to coal mining when she was 8 and has made it clear to her only son, a teenager, that he never will work at a mine. "I'm very proud of what my husband did."

Karen Jobe Templeton, an artist chosen to cast a bronze memorial of the faces of the nine dead, has grown close to all the victims' families, trying to capture their essential personalities - a twinkle in the eye for Black.

"The grief comes in waves," said Templeton, working in a barn studio outside Helper, a nearby coal town. "You get through it today, but tomorrow may bring it again."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UTAH_MINE_COLLAPSE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
--------------------------------------

I wonder since the  men missing and presumed dead but not legally declared dead, does this mean their families can't receive benefits?  Are they able to collect life insurance if policies had been purchased?  And what about social security benefits if there were surviving spouses and/or children?  This is stange!  There is no way those  men are alive.

What a terribly sad story.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695240635,00.html
Interesting article here!!
Won't let me copy and paste though  :-x

Thank you for bringing this to the thread Nut.  I was just looking at news on the web about the Sago mine explosion and there was a small paragraph about the Crandall mine disaster. I really feel badly for those that lost loved ones and friends in the mining disasters, and on top of that, knowing they are still entombed and may never be recovered.   I think what this artist is doing is a fine tribute to the memories of the men and their families. 

Utah mine collapse caused by faulty design: probe



By Dan Whitcomb 2 hours, 15 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 2007 Utah coal mine collapse that killed six miners and three rescuers was triggered by a faulty mine design, federal investigators said on Thursday, rejecting the owner's claim that it was caused by an earthquake.
 In announcing its findings, the Mine Safety and Health Administration fined the Crandall Canyon Mine's operator $1.6 million for a violations of its safety code. Genwal's engineering firm, Agapito Associates Inc., was fined $220,000.

Six coal miners were killed in the dramatic cave-in of the Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah on August 6, 2007 that drew worldwide media coverage as rescuers made frantic efforts from below ground and above to reach the men.

Ten days later two mine employees and a Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector died during a second collapse that forced officials to end the rescue effort and say there was no hope of finding the trapped miners alive.

Outspoken Crandall Canyon Mine owner Robert Murray said at the time that the collapse was due to an earthquake in the area, but MSHA investigators dismissed that assertion in releasing the findings at a briefing with reporters in Utah on Thursday.

"First of all it was not, and I'll repeat not, a natural occurring earthquake but in fact it was a catastrophic outburst of the coal pillars that were used to support the ground above the coal seam," MSHA chief Richard Stickler said.

Stickler said the pillars "failed under the excessive load and ejected coal very violently and filled up most of the tunnels or entries" with coal and debris.

The cave-in registered as a 3.9 magnitude seismic event and covered 50 acres, or an area the size of 40 American football fields, according to a report released in June by Utah seismologists.

Among the violations cited against Genwal were failing to contact MSHA after previous collapses, failing to revise its roof control plan, removing coal that had been used to support the roof and maintaining inadequate pillars.

"It was a mine design issue and the design created pillars that were simply not large enough to support the load," MSHA investigator Richard Gates said.

Rescuers who could not immediately determine if the trapped miners were alive or dead bored seven holes into the shaft in a desperate bid to find them, but were unable to establish contact before the second cave-in forced them to give up.

The Crandall Canyon Mine is on a high desert plateau some 140 miles south of Salt Lake City, in what is known as Utah's "castle country" because of the towering rock spires that dot the rugged landscape.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080724/us_nm/mine_utah_dc

BLOCKED WEBSITE

Jan 1, 4:38 PM EST

Family of Utah mine collapse victim awarded money


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A coal company has been ordered to pay full benefits to the family of one of the six miners killed in the 2007 collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine.

An administrative judge for the Utah Labor Commission ordered Genwal Resources Inc. and Rockwood Casualty Insurance Co. to pay $565 per week for 312 weeks from the date of the cave-in to the family of Juan Carlos Payan, the Deseret News reported Thursday. That's a total of more than $176,000.

In addition to the six miners killed on Aug. 6, 2007, three more people died in a later collapse during a failed rescue attempt. The mine was permanently closed and the miners' bodies were never recovered.

Payan's family said the 22-year-old miner was the main source of support for his disabled father, mother and two young siblings in Ensenada, Mexico.

The companies said they shouldn't have to pay the full benefit amount because Payan had two other siblings working in Utah to help the family.

Judge Aurora Holley ruled on behalf of the family, the commission said.

Bret Gardner, an attorney for Genwal Resources and Rockwood Casualty Insurance, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the companies have no comment because the case is still pending and "has not yet reached its final resolution." He said the companies are considering an appeal.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MINE_COLLAPSE_BENEFITS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEEP_COAL_MINING?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Jun 28, 3:23 PM EDT
Utah's deep coal operators face heavy regulation
By PAUL FOY
AP Business Writer
HELPER, Utah (AP) -- Two years after a Utah mine collapsed, entombing six miners more than 2,000 feet under a mountain and also killing three members of a rescue team, the state's coal operators are backing away from rich coal reserves held deep under the ground.
Coal mines have come under intense scrutiny in every part of the country, with the Mine Safety and Health Administration tripling fines against all coal mines last year, to $152.7 million.
But in Utah, where easy access to coal was exhausted more than a decade ago, operators say they have been hit especially hard because of the extreme depths at which they dig for coal.
The risks are compounded by a common method of coal removal called retreat mining, which has operators sometimes flirting with disaster by deliberately inducing cave-ins.
The Crandall Canyon collapse in 2007 shows what can go wrong.
A bounce, a type of seismic jolt, imploded with the force of two million pounds of explosives at Crandall, said Michael McCarter, a professor of mining engineering at the University of Utah.
The tremor flattened a section of the mine roughly the size of 63 football fields, leaving six miners entombed 2,160 feet under mountain cover. Another cave-in 10 days later killed three members of a rescue team, including a federal mining inspector.
Federal regulators, stung by criticism following mine disasters from West Virginia to Utah, quickly clamped down.
"We'll never know if we make the right decision - we'll just know when we make the wrong decision," said Kevin Stricklin, coal-mining boss for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
But with federal inspectors on site practically every day, executives for several Utah mines grumble that the inspectors are writing up citations mostly for small offenses - a pile of coal dust there, a spill of grease here.
About 30 miles away from Crandall is the Horizon mine, operated by American West Resources Inc.
Horizon was put on a special watch with twice the national average of safety violations.
So to appease regulators, Horizon retreated from a section of its mine that logged 26 roof falls over the previous two years.
The section contained 300,000 tons of high-quality coal and easy access to millions of tons more.
"We're a small company, and we made a hard decision," said Dan Baker, chief executive officer for Salt Lake City-based America West Resources Inc., a public company. "I don't know how many millions of dollars went into developing that section."
Other companies are following suit.
Utah's largest coal operator, St. Louis-based Arch Coal Inc., turned away from a deep coal seam at the Dugout mine in central Utah, leaving behind 4 million tons of coal a year ago.
McCarter and other mining experts question whether regulation has gone too far.
Mining authorities ordered a new method of longwall mining that effectively cuts West Ridge's reserves in half, "and I'm not really sure anybody has proven it any safer," McCarter said.
The cave-ins are part of everyday deep mining, McCarter said. Two common methods of coal removal, longwall and retreat mining, depend on orderly, controlled cave-ins for safety.
But federal officials say the size of the Crandall Canyon disaster showed more scrutiny was needed.
"In the past, anything an operator submitted - if it was a reputable operator - we took their word for it," Stricklin said.
Others agree the tighter regulations are a welcome change, because mining companies for years got a free pass.
"It was a rubber stamp," said Mike Dalpiaz, the mayor of Helper and a United Mine Workers of America vice president. "We had to spill blood before they started paying attention."
Miners are paid well for the dangerous job - around $65,500 a year, double the region's average wage, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services
About 4,000 feet inside Horizon via a honeycomb of sloping tunnels, Dallen McFarland used a cable-connected joystick to finish boring a tunnel with a 50-ton cutting machine.
He didn't flinch when the walls - miners call them ribs - started making noises like a knuckle cracking, with the weight of 800 feet of mountain cover bearing down.
"When your ribs are popping, that's good because it means they aren't storing energy," McFarland said.
---

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57394535/charges-announced-in-deadly-utah-mine-collapse/
Charges announced in deadly Utah mine collapse
March 9, 2012

(AP) SALT LAKE CITY - Misdemeanor criminal charges have been filed and fines levied against the operator of a Utah mine where a 2007 collapse killed six miners, two rescuers and a federal inspector, federal prosecutors said Friday.

U.S. Attorney David B. Barlow said the mine operator, Pepper Pike, Ohio-based Genwal Resources Inc., an affiliate of Murray Energy Corp, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of violating mandatory health and safety standards and pay a $500,000 fine.

Six miners died at Crandall Canyon in the August 2007 collapse so powerful that it initially registered as a 3.9-magnitude earthquake. Another cave-in 10 days later killed two rescuers and a federal inspector.

The operation was eventually called off after drilling into the mountain found no sign of the trapped men. Their bodies remain deep in the mine's catacombs in central Utah.

In documents filed in federal court in Salt Lake City Friday, Genwal attorneys note that while it has agreed to plead guilty to the charges and pay the fine, should the court not accept the plea, the company can withdraw the agreement.
 ::snipping2::