This mine company has been in trouble before
http://www.fmshrc.gov/decisions/alj/ws2004-453.html
Why isn't the media talking about it ?
Full Version: Utah Mine Accident
I felt compelled to post this, but aside from what may or not be the root cause of this accident.....I have a true gut feeling that at lease some if not all of the miners are alive. in other past accidents in mines, i didnt have this feeling....something unexplainable, but I really feel there will be some surprising good news....I hope Im right. I could be wrong. time will only tell. my thoughts and prayers are with them and the families.
QUOTE(andrew6565 @ Aug 10 2007, 12:10 AM) 
I felt compelled to post this, but aside from what may or not be the root cause of this accident.....I have a true gut feeling that at lease some if not all of the miners are alive. in other past accidents in mines, i didnt have this feeling....something unexplainable, but I really feel there will be some surprising good news....I hope Im right. I could be wrong. time will only tell. my thoughts and prayers are with them and the families.
I sure hope and pray you are right. My family is from coal country. As John Edwards would say "This is personal for me".
QUOTE(Democrat Debbi @ Aug 9 2007, 08:20 PM)
This mine company has been in trouble before
http://www.fmshrc.gov/decisions/alj/ws2004-453.html
Why isn't the media talking about it ?
http://www.fmshrc.gov/decisions/alj/ws2004-453.html
Why isn't the media talking about it ?
Good question, Debbi! I haven't kept up enough with the story, but it seems to be playing out as the owner of the mine striving to save his workers. And I have heard him push back on the critics rather strongly. I thought there was some criticism about his mining method earlier this week ~ criticism from the mining union.
QUOTE(suswah @ Aug 10 2007, 09:00 PM)
Good question, Debbi! I haven't kept up enough with the story, but it seems to be playing out as the owner of the mine striving to save his workers. And I have heard him push back on the critics rather strongly. I thought there was some criticism about his mining method earlier this week ~ criticism from the mining union.
I started checking as the head of the mine seemed determined to convince everyone it was an earthquake. I knew it wasn't a union mine, so I thought, "What is he hiding?"
QUOTE
A warning?
Memo shows mine already had roof problems in March
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 08/12/2007 01:07:15 PM MDT
Operators at the Crandall Canyon mine experienced serious structural problems in the mine in March and entirely abandoned work in an area about 900 feet from where six miners remained trapped Saturday.
A memo obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune shows that mine owners were trying to work around "poor roof conditions" before halting mining of the northern tunnels in early March after a "large bump occurred . . . resulting in heavy damage" in those tunnels.
...
The memo indicates that mine operators knew the tremendous pressures of a mountain bearing down on the mine were creating problems with the roof, and they were searching for a way to safely keep the mine from falling in as they cut away the coal pillars supporting the structure.
"It's dangerous. Damn dangerous I would say," Robert Ferriter, now director of the mine safety program at the Colorado School of Mines and a 27-year veteran of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. "What is MSHA doing in all this? They're the ones who are supposed to catch this sort of thing."
Full article link
Memo shows mine already had roof problems in March
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 08/12/2007 01:07:15 PM MDT
Operators at the Crandall Canyon mine experienced serious structural problems in the mine in March and entirely abandoned work in an area about 900 feet from where six miners remained trapped Saturday.
A memo obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune shows that mine owners were trying to work around "poor roof conditions" before halting mining of the northern tunnels in early March after a "large bump occurred . . . resulting in heavy damage" in those tunnels.
...
The memo indicates that mine operators knew the tremendous pressures of a mountain bearing down on the mine were creating problems with the roof, and they were searching for a way to safely keep the mine from falling in as they cut away the coal pillars supporting the structure.
"It's dangerous. Damn dangerous I would say," Robert Ferriter, now director of the mine safety program at the Colorado School of Mines and a 27-year veteran of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. "What is MSHA doing in all this? They're the ones who are supposed to catch this sort of thing."
Full article link
Emphasis mine. I think MSHA is doing the same thing the rest of our corporate country is doing.
...Nothing! Greed over safety. Just my .02.
QUOTE(ncMindy @ Aug 12 2007, 07:24 PM)
Emphasis mine. I think MSHA is doing the same thing the rest of our corporate country is doing.
...Nothing! Greed over safety. Just my .02.
...Nothing! Greed over safety. Just my .02.
How could they send people in that mine knowing it could collapse ???? How do these people sleep ?
All mine workers need to be in a Union !!! John Edwards has got to be our next President !!!!!!
QUOTE(Democrat Debbi @ Aug 13 2007, 08:06 AM)
How could they send people in that mine knowing it could collapse ???? How do these people sleep ?
All mine workers need to be in a Union !!! John Edwards has got to be our next President !!!!!!
All mine workers need to be in a Union !!! John Edwards has got to be our next President !!!!!!
Agreed!
QUOTE
Utah Mine Owner: Troubling Safety Record, Useful Political Clout
HuffingtonPost.com | Max Follmer | August 14, 2007 08:42 PM
In 2003, when safety inspectors ordered the owner of a Utah coal mine where six workers have been trapped for more than a week to shut down one of his Ohio operations because of repeated safety problems, local press reports say he did not hesitate to flex his political muscle to get the inspectors off his back.
...
"Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and last time I checked he was sleeping with your boss," Murray told the inspectors, referring to the senior GOP senator from Kentucky. The quote was repeated in an Oct. 2006 Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader article on McConnell's political influence.
McConnell - the Republican leader in the Senate - is married to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who oversees MSHA. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, McConnell has received $176,800 in campaign donations from mining interests since 2001.
Thompson was later transferred to an office away from Murray's mines, and retired from MSHA in 2006.
...
Murray's safety record has come under fire at several other mines he owns through at least a half dozen mining companies.
Mines owned by Murray's companies produce more than 20 million tons of coal annually, according to a tally by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. His companies include Ohio Valley Coal Co., Maple Creek Mining, Inc., KenAmerican Resources, Inc., American Coal Co. and PennAmerican Coal.
Robert Gehrke at the Salt Lake Tribune reported over the weekend that Murray's Galatia mine in southern Illinois has racked up 2,787 violations over the past two years. MSHA has proposed more than $2.4 million in fines at Galatia, according to Gehrke's reporting.
Complete Huffington Link
HuffingtonPost.com | Max Follmer | August 14, 2007 08:42 PM
In 2003, when safety inspectors ordered the owner of a Utah coal mine where six workers have been trapped for more than a week to shut down one of his Ohio operations because of repeated safety problems, local press reports say he did not hesitate to flex his political muscle to get the inspectors off his back.
...
"Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and last time I checked he was sleeping with your boss," Murray told the inspectors, referring to the senior GOP senator from Kentucky. The quote was repeated in an Oct. 2006 Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader article on McConnell's political influence.
McConnell - the Republican leader in the Senate - is married to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who oversees MSHA. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, McConnell has received $176,800 in campaign donations from mining interests since 2001.
Thompson was later transferred to an office away from Murray's mines, and retired from MSHA in 2006.
...
Murray's safety record has come under fire at several other mines he owns through at least a half dozen mining companies.
Mines owned by Murray's companies produce more than 20 million tons of coal annually, according to a tally by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. His companies include Ohio Valley Coal Co., Maple Creek Mining, Inc., KenAmerican Resources, Inc., American Coal Co. and PennAmerican Coal.
Robert Gehrke at the Salt Lake Tribune reported over the weekend that Murray's Galatia mine in southern Illinois has racked up 2,787 violations over the past two years. MSHA has proposed more than $2.4 million in fines at Galatia, according to Gehrke's reporting.
Complete Huffington Link
Im wondering now whether the public will ever really know and find out when those miners actualy died. I still had that gut feeling that they were alive prehaps for several days, but I know longer feel that. if there is one or more breathing...then they are dying an agonizing slow death . I think that whomever completes the findings, that they determine exactly how long they lasted or if it was instantly. we may never know because they will eventualy sway from fact and divulge something that fits their agenda and decieves rather than dispel any truths. and that business as usual too often.
QUOTE
Search for 6 Utah Miners Is Suspended
JENNIFER DOBNER | August 31, 2007 11:54 PM EST
SALT LAKE CITY — The search for six men trapped in a coal mine during a cave-in nearly four weeks ago is effectively over, after a robotic camera failed to provide any useful information, a federal mine official said Friday.
"We talked with the families and we basically told them we're pretty much out of options," said Rich Kulczewski, spokesman for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Mining officials told the families that the robotic camera was successfully dropped down the fourth of seven holes bored into the mountain, but that it quickly became stuck in the mud as it moved over piles of debris, Kulczewski said.
Officials also could not retrieve the camera and had to leave it stuck about 50 feet from the surface, he said.
The steadfast families had a difficult time with the news, said Colin King, an attorney serving as a spokesman for all six families. "There were tears," he said.
LINK
JENNIFER DOBNER | August 31, 2007 11:54 PM EST
SALT LAKE CITY — The search for six men trapped in a coal mine during a cave-in nearly four weeks ago is effectively over, after a robotic camera failed to provide any useful information, a federal mine official said Friday.
"We talked with the families and we basically told them we're pretty much out of options," said Rich Kulczewski, spokesman for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Mining officials told the families that the robotic camera was successfully dropped down the fourth of seven holes bored into the mountain, but that it quickly became stuck in the mud as it moved over piles of debris, Kulczewski said.
Officials also could not retrieve the camera and had to leave it stuck about 50 feet from the surface, he said.
The steadfast families had a difficult time with the news, said Colin King, an attorney serving as a spokesman for all six families. "There were tears," he said.
LINK
Andrew, you are correct; this is very sad.
QUOTE
Families of the missing men and the lost rescue workers gathered on a mountaintop above Huntington on Friday afternoon to release a rehabilitated golden eagle into the wild.
The bird, which had been cared for by the Southwest Wildlife Foundation, was a symbol of healing and hope, Huntington City Councilwoman Julie Jones said.
Representatives from each family touched the bird, offering up prayers, some audible and some whispered, for their loved ones.
Wendy Black, the wife of killed rescuer Dale "Bird" Black, held the eagle at the end of the ceremony and released it, Jones said.
"It was awesome," Jones said. "It was a very emotional thing."
The bird, which had been cared for by the Southwest Wildlife Foundation, was a symbol of healing and hope, Huntington City Councilwoman Julie Jones said.
Representatives from each family touched the bird, offering up prayers, some audible and some whispered, for their loved ones.
Wendy Black, the wife of killed rescuer Dale "Bird" Black, held the eagle at the end of the ceremony and released it, Jones said.
"It was awesome," Jones said. "It was a very emotional thing."
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