Crandall Canyon Coal Mine Accident.

[John]

I hope I'm proved wrong Daz, but my feelings are these fellers have been dead for some days now.

[linbylad]

Good morning, John and Daz. I knew you would remember that mine Daz, unforgettable. The chocks were totally unsuitable for that face what with double telescopic legs fully extended and a steep incline. I was told the chocks had been spec'd. for a different customer and the order had been canceled and the Colorado mine had bought them on the cheap. I will not mention the name of the company so as not to get John into trouble. Our old friend Bill W had all on keeping up with repairs to the chocks as did I maintaining the shearer at this mine and the AB16 DERDS at the mine over the mountain. It was bad enough without having to put up with the ignorance of the longwall manager. Several people were banned from this mine for speaking out. They were the lucky ones!

I spent 9 months at the two mines from July 1978 to March 1979 with several breaks going to the Braztah mine in Helper, Utah , which were a great relief. They did have an explosion about 1981. The continuous miner exploded when the power was switched on and 8 men were killed. I got the nitty-gritty on this from a MSHA investigator but I will not go into details for the reason already stated. A friend of mine from my home town of Hucknall, Notts, worked in the section that exploded but was on the preceding shift. He is now safely back in Hucknall with his brother and brother-in-law who both worked there.

I've not heard from Bill W for several years although I have tried to contact him. I hope him and Eileen are OK.

I don't think the Utah mine will be re-opened. It looks like they had worked it out and were just taking areas of coal left when the longwalls were discontinued. One report said that they had to abandon mining in north section of the mine because of heavy loading due to the conditions. If they do have reserves at this site it will be cheaper to develop a new mine.

One thing we can agree on is the ignorance of the media covering this disaster. I have noticed the media, in all it's forms, has deteriorated to the level of the tabloid press over the last few years. It has gone from reporting the news to sensationalizing everything. Anything to sell advertising. I no longer trust it like I used to. I have turned skeptic.

Linby Lad.

[John]

Hi Linbylad, no I won't get into trouble, post what you want as long as there is nobody slandered.
We are covered by the 1st amendment rights and if in doubt about anything you wish to post, go to Proboads T&C's just read them.
I did remove some blatent advertising by a Chinese company who advertised their new LED caplamp, thats not allowed by Proboards.
Selling personal property is allowed.

Back on topic, I too doubt the mine will be reopened, I'd think the costs would far outweigh any production they could achieve. From what I see of their lease, there really are many more years of coal left to recover.
There are also several seams below the one they have worked, they are mentioned in the paper on the link Daz posted on this thread, but from what the paper stated, with todays technology, impossible to work due to stresses.


Bill is a member of this site, but so far hasn't posted, probably out in his RV travelling the freeways of America!!

[John]

The second large diam bore hole is done, it was 20 feet out this morning so they had to change the bit for a directional bit to get the hole back on line. They tried to lower a mike down the drill steels, but it was getting caught on the bend. They are pulling the steels out right now and later this afternoon will be lowering the microphone once more down the uncased bore hole.

[linbylad]

I just checked out one of the TV news bulletins: The "continuing mining vehicle" is now the "constant mining machine". The mind boggles. You would think that after being camped out at the mine for 10 days the reporters would have at least have the terminology right.

Linby Lad.

[Ragger]

Hi. All,

There may still be some hope,

The Mining Journal reported 40 minutes ago,

"A listening device lowered into the Utah mine where workers have been trapped for nine days picked up sounds, compelling rescue teams to drill into that area.

Don`t read too much into this,`` said Bob Murray, chief executive of mine owner Murray Energy Corp, in a televised news conference. “But it is a sign of hope.

The sounds recorded by a so-called “geophone,” sent into the third hole drilled into the mine, lasted for about five minutes, Murray said in a subsequent interview with CNN.

They came at intervals of about a second and a half and could have been rapping by the miners."

[John]

I heard that last night Bill, Mr Murray did say, "don't read too much into it yet". We'll have to wait until the lunchtime press briefings.

[John]

linbylad said:

I just checked out one of the TV news bulletins: The "continuing mining vehicle" is now the "constant mining machine". The mind boggles. You would think that after being camped out at the mine for 10 days the reporters would have at least have the terminology right.

Linby Lad.

And they claim they have degrees in journalism Linby! I think most want their ears scraping out with a No10 shovel!

[John]

This is the daily MSHA report, from those figures, it' doesn't look very good!

___________________________________

Genwal Resources, Inc.’s
Crandall Canyon Mine
Thursday, August 16, 1 p.m. EDT
Workers continue to draw air samples from borehole #1, and are pumping compressed air into the mine through borehole #2. Recent air samples drawn from borehole #3 indicate 16.8 percent oxygen and 21 parts per million carbon monoxide. Seismic activity occurred Wednesday night around 11 p.m. EDT, forcing rescue workers to temporarily suspend efforts. The continuous miner has advanced approximately 826 feet into the mine. The drill rig has been set in place for bore hole #4, and drilling will begin soon. Sixty-five people are currently underground, including 7 MSHA employees.

[John]

I wonder why there's so much CO down there?? Thats usually a result of incomplete combustion, makes me wonder if there's been an ignition of methane, maybe a goaf fire?

[John]

Bad news, there's just been an accident underground, I don't know how many have been injured yet as it's just happened, but four maybe five rescue workers have been taken via ambulance to hospital and a life line helicopter has landed at the mine site.
There's a press conferance in half an hour. 03-12am UK time.

It's rumoured that there was a large bump, so I would hazard a guess the ribs blew out.

[John]

At least nine miners were injured, one flown out by a medivac helicopter to a trauma centre, the rest taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

[dazbt]

admin said:

Bad news, there's just been an accident underground, I don't know how many have been injured yet as it's just happened, but four maybe five rescue workers have been taken via ambulance to hospital and a life line helicopter has landed at the mine site.
There's a press conferance in half an hour. 03-12am UK time.

It's rumoured that there was a large bump, so I would hazard a guess the ribs blew out.

What's the latest from the press conference J?

[linbylad]

The latest bulletin, 12.00AM EDT, on CNN says 9 miners have been injured, several serious and one has died.

This situation is getting worse and sooner or later a decision whether to continue with the rescue operation will have to be made. My thoughts are with everyone out there.

I have mentioned in previous posts that I worked in mines out west which had similar conditions. I also worked in mines in other States where in I didn't feel comfortable. At the time I didn't think a lot about it, sort of playing the numbers game, knowing what could happen but believing that the odds against it happening to me were great. I have now been retired for several years and all that is behind me but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. I sometimes remember the dream that I'd had and realize that I am reliving my time in the mines. I guess it is a mild form of post distress disorder. I have never told this to anyone before, not even my wife. Do any of you have similar thoughts or dreams? I would appreciate your feedback.

Linby Lad.

[Ragger]

It's heartbreaking news.

Three of the rescuers attempting to find six workers trapped in a Utah mine since last week have been killed.

[brewtime]

BBC running the story, three rescue men dead and six more injured. the rescue attempt has been halted and the mine cleared, looks like they may abandon the rescue,

[John]

Yep, it's turned real nasty now, three of the injured are in serious condition, sounds like a rib outburst that got them. The miner is buried, so there was a lot of material ejected at the time of the "bump"

I can see Bob Murray collapsing before this lots over, the last pictures I saw of him before this, show an old tired man who is emotionally and physically drained.

[John]

This from MSHA's site.

__________________________________________

Genwal Resources, Inc.’s
Crandall Canyon Mine
Friday, August 17, 8 a.m. EDT
At approximately 8:39 p.m. EDT Thursday night, a significant bounce occurred at the mine. Three rescue workers are confirmed dead, including one MSHA inspector. Six others remain hospitalized. At this time, all rescue efforts have been suspended.

[John]

There's a press briefing at 12-00pm my time, as soon as I hear what is happening, I'll post it.

[John]

Right, what happened last night was a "bump" that caused 30 feet of ribside from a pillar to "blow out" taking the ground control gear out to the opposite side of the road. There was a crew installing water jacks, mesh, wire ropes and timber along that rib side. It completely buried them, two were Inspectors, one died, the other is in hospital in a bad way, the others were company employees. This was outbye of the face heading, those men ran back to recover the injured miners.

MSHA and the company are bringing in ground control experts from all over the US to come up with a plan to secure the ribs and protect the rescue workers from any further outbursts before the rescue effort can proceed. It must be stressed, that the ground control being presently used was put together by some of the worlds best ground control experts, but obviously failed last night.
I wonder if a modified steel arch method would work with the legs being bolted to a horizontal RSJ set on the floor??

[John]

linbylad said:

The latest bulletin, 12.00AM EDT, on CNN says 9 miners have been injured, several serious and one has died.

This situation is getting worse and sooner or later a decision whether to continue with the rescue operation will have to be made. My thoughts are with everyone out there.

I have mentioned in previous posts that I worked in mines out west which had similar conditions. I also worked in mines in other States where in I didn't feel comfortable. At the time I didn't think a lot about it, sort of playing the numbers game, knowing what could happen but believing that the odds against it happening to me were great. I have now been retired for several years and all that is behind me but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. I sometimes remember the dream that I'd had and realize that I am reliving my time in the mines. I guess it is a mild form of post distress disorder. I have never told this to anyone before, not even my wife. Do any of you have similar thoughts or dreams? I would appreciate your feedback.

Linby Lad.

The two dangers that bothered me were fire, being behind one, and massive convergence. The latter I often had dreams about, running or crawling as fast as I could get off a face and then finding the gate road coming down as I make every effort running outbye to beat it!

[John]

Been doing some Googling, it was clean!! I googled Bob Murray, and there's not very nice things people have to say about him. He appears not as sincere as he makes out! I started with the UMWA site, home of the miners union, and progressed from there.

I also googled Murray Energy, it appears his mines have a high rate of citations from MSHA, one mine in particular has higher than average citations, some extremely serious!

[John]

Just heard that nothing was heard from the No4 borehole. Not looking good!
They are going to start another hole a couple of hundred yards away to intersect with a crosscut off No1 heading.

[John]

It appears the rescue is soon to be "wound up", sadly the bodies will never be recovered due to the dangers involved.
The last borehole is still being drilled though, but O levels in the other holes were too low and CO levels too high to make the air breathable.

The families are demanding a 30 inch hole be drilled down to recover the bodies of the missing miners, everyone seems pretty certain they are dead now.

[limey]

Yep - looks like its all over bar the shouting. I feel bad for them all. They showed photos of the three rescuers that were killed and I think I worked with one at Sunnyside. Makes me cry thinking about it!

Nobody deserves to die this way. A very sad end to a very sad story.

[John]

I don't know about you Eric, but in the situation those poor buggers faced, I'd have been running like hell outbye, maybe thats why they haven't spotted any bodies yet, becuse they did what I'd have done!

[limey]

John - you could very well be right on that one. Lets hope so, and that the collapse just caught up with them VERY quickly.

I don't know how that Murray chap sleeps at night!

[linbylad]

Bob Murray has reappeared. The Salt Lake City TV station's website has broadcast lengthy videos of the latest media releases and interviews with the trapped miners relatives.The link was provided by Dazbt in a previous post. Well worth a look, very emotional.

Linby Lad.

[John]

Bob Murray's company doesn't have a very good record at it's other mines. Check this article out.

_____________________________________________________
CLEVELAND -

The chairman of the company that co-owns the Utah coal mine where six workers are trapped has campaigned to improve mine safety - but his companies have incurred millions of dollars in fines over the last 18 months.

Robert Murray's Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp. has 19 mines in five states that vary widely in the number of fines, citations and injuries, according to an Associated Press review of federal Mine Safety and Health Administration records.

At Utah's Crandall Canyon mine, where the fate of the miners was unknown after a cave-in Monday, the safety record was remarkably good, said R. Larry Grayson, a professor of mining engineering at Penn State University.

"The injury rate for the last four years has been significantly below the national average," Grayson said.

But a mine in southern Illinois owned by Murray subsidiary American Coal Co. has had a significant number of recent violations.

The Galatia mine, which has about 850 workers and produced 7.2 million tons of coal in 2006, has 869 violations so far this year, leading one mining expert to believe the company is "just going for the production and not going for the safety."

Bruce Dial, owner of Dial Mine Safety, a consulting company near Charlotte, N.C., said the high number of fines, $1.46 million so far in 2007, indicates the mine is not taking the necessary steps to remedy problems.

The mine has accumulated more than $3 million in fines dating back to 1999. Records show Galatia is contesting many of the fines.

On June 4, MSHA inspectors cited and fined the mine $54,000 for violating regulations on the accumulation of combustible materials.

The fine suggested to Dial, who worked for MSHA for 24 years and now testifies in cases as an expert witness, that there was a large quantity of combustible material and a chance of a spark setting off an explosion.

Dial also noted 21 violations so far in 2007 where shutdown orders were given in areas of the mine after mine managers failed to act after they were notified of a violation.

On July 20, the records show, the mine was again cited for failure to prevent the accumulation of combustible materials. The coding of the violation denotes that supervisors were aware of the problem but had not done anything about it. A fine has not yet been assessed.

There was no response to telephone and e-mail messages left Wednesday and Thursday to Murray Energy for comment on the company's safety record.

When Murray testified before the Senate committee on Environment and Public Works on June 28, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., questioned his mine safety record.

Murray responded: "You're flat-out wrong. That information came from your friends at the United Mine Workers and the union. It is not fair."

Referring to the mine safety record, he said, "I take it with me to bed. I resent you bringing this in."

Four days later, Murray sent a letter to Boxer, saying the rate of injuries in 2006 at all of Murray Energy's mines was less than the national average.

The United Mine Workers of America, which represents workers at Murray's Powhatan No. 6 mine in Belmont County in eastern Ohio, ran a campaign against him in 2001, accusing him of not holding up his end of their contract, spokesman Phil Smith said.

He said the safety record of Murray's mines is generally "not particularly better or particularly worse than any other mine operator in the county."

The National Mining Association, where Murray sits on the board of directors, credited Murray with pushing for safety, including backing the federal Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act passed last year. It called for additional mine rescue teams, extra emergency packs and other materials.

"In my experience Mr. Murray has been in the forefront of efforts to improve mine safety legislation," association spokesman Luke Popovich said. "He's certainly been visible in our association-wide efforts to improve mine safety at underground coal mines."

Associated Press Writer Stephen Majors in Columbus contributed to this report.

[John]

Here's another article.

____________________________________________________


Who is Robert Murray, owner of Crandall Canyon mine?

August 11, 2007

by TOM BROWN

Robert Murray is the man who insists he can prove an earthquake caused the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine in Huntington, Utah, an earthquake which scientists at two universities say is the result of the mine collapse, not its cause. He is the man who claims global warming is junk science. He is the man who negotiates in bad faith with the United Mine Workers and resists efforts to improve safety at his mines and across the industry.

Murray's Claim: An earthquake caused the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine.

An irate Robert E. Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp. of Cleveland, lashed out at the news media for suggesting his men were conducting "retreat mining," in which miners pull down the last standing pillars of coal and let the roof fall in.

"This was caused by an earthquake, not something that Murray Energy ... did or our employees did or our management did," Murray said, his voice often rising in anger. "It was a natural disaster. An earthquake. And I'm going to prove it to you."

CBS Channel 2, KUTV Salt Lake City
kutv.com/local/local_story_219192940.html

Fact: Murray Energy had filed plans to "retreat mine" at Crandall Canyon and was engaged in retreat mining when the collapse occurred.

In June, U.S. regulators approved a roof control plan for the "room and pillar" technique, also known as retreat mining, at Crandall Canyon.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration, part of the Department of Labor, signed off on Crandall Canyon's pillar safety plan, spokeswoman Amy Louviere said. The mining agency will investigate whether the mine was complying with the agreed-upon procedures.

LA Times
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-collapse8aug08,0,6404488.story?coll=la-home-center

Fact: Scientists at the University of Utah and the University of California at Berkeley say the characteristics of the earthquake are consistent with shock waves caused by a mine collapse.

Aug. 7 -- "Walter Arabasz, a University of Utah seismologist, said it's too early to pinpoint the cause."

"The evidence in hand is more consistent with the idea that the mine collapse was the source of the seismic waves recorded as the earthquake." A final answer, however, will require further analysis of seismological information, as well as that from the mine, he said.

CNN.com US edition
edition.cnn.com/2007/US/08/07/utah.mine/?iref=mpstoryview

Aug. 9 -- "Now scientists at Cal Berkeley have looked at data from a lot of stations they say it shows a mine collapse, not an earthquake."

CBS Channel 2, KUTV Salt Lake City
kutv.com/topstories/local_story_221180258.html

Fact: No other mines in the area reported seismic activity.

"Richard Stickler, head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, says his agency has heard no reports of seismic activity at mines near where the Crandall Canyon mine collapse occurred. If there were an earthquake, he says other mines in the area 'probably' would have reported seismic activity or had work stoppages."

"John Baza, director of the state Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, echoed those sentiments, saying his department received no reports of seismic activity at nearby mines during the period of the collapse."

Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 11
www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6599166

Murray's Claim: "My employees are important to me and I take their safety to bed every night...My safety record today is one of the best in the coal industry."

Fact: Robert Murray is focused on extracting the maximum profit from his mines, not the maximum safety of his workers.

"Murray's Galatia mine in southern Illinois racked up at least 2,787 violations and more than $2.4 million in proposed fines from the Mine Safety and Health Administration over a two-year span, according to government records. That includes more than $1.4 million in proposed fines already this year."

"...his other mines have been the subject of a federal lawsuit over concealed safety violations, have been closed by state regulators and have experienced accident rates in some cases several times the national average."

"...Murray's companies have resisted increases in civil penalties for mine violations, opposed safety measures proposed after the Sago mine disaster and have sued the governor of Pennsylvania for ordering a mine there to close."

Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 10, 2007
www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6589559

Other Robert Murray Resources

United Mine Workers of America point of view, circa 2001
www.umwa.org/journal/VOL112NO4/july1.shtml

Robert Murray contributes big bucks exclusively to Republican candidates
www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/murray_energy_political_action_committee.asp?cycle=06
www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=5730&name=Murray-Energy-Corp

Robert Murray recommends more corporate welfare for coal industry
waysandmeans.house.gov/Legacy/srm/107cong/6-13-01/6-13murr.htm

Robert Murray says global warming concerns are goofy, will wreck the economy and hurt the little guy
mediamatters.org/items/200704100009

Coal is the enemy of the human race: Robert Murray can I disagree edition
www.huffingtonpost.com/david-roberts/coal-is-the-enemy-of-the-_b_54226.html

A Squirrel Chats with Crandall Mine Owner (and White Knights Talk Backward)
www.firedoglake.com/2007/08/10/a-squirrel-chats-with-crandall-mine-owner-and-white-knights-talk-backward/

St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN