Mine Exec: "We're Going To Get Them"

But Searchers Are Still Unable To Contact 6 Miners Trapped In Collapsed Utah Coal Mine

(CBS/AP)  By mid-afternoon, rescuers were within 1,700 feet of the miners' presumed location, Murray said. It is not known what kind of breathing equipment the miners have.

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.

"There is no evidence that the earthquake triggered the mine collapse," said Walter Arabasz, director of the seismography stations.

Murray disputed those findings, saying the 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 believes 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.

[nekodoshi]

Hey, I lived in Utah in Orangeville, just 15 minutes from Huntington where the collapse has occuredm for the first 13 years of my life, and my father has been a coal miner for over 24 years.

In case you're wondering, "retreat" mining is the practice where pillars left in areas that have been carved out by the longwall machines for their coal are purposely knocked down to cause a tunnel to collapse once the coal seam in that area has been depleted. My father has worked in those kind of mines before, and when I asked him about the experience, he only responded that "it was a blast", hopefully no pun intended.

Was it an earthquake that caused the collapse? It's possible, Emery county has always been a hotbed of seismic activity, but only on a very small scale, although there have been much more noticible quakes before. But odds are the seismographs were picking up on the collapse.

Can all six of them survive? Since the revised rules for mining were passed, it's very possible that they will. Most people in huntington that I knew were camping men, who knew survival skills back and forth, and they won't panic, they'll all hold out without a doubt. But it'll take at least three days for them to be reached, I can garuntee all of you that.

[nekodoshi]

Hey, I lived in Utah in Orangeville, just 15 minutes from Huntington where the collapse has occuredm for the first 13 years of my life, and my father has been a coal miner for over 24 years.

In case you're wondering, "retreat" mining is the practice where pillars left in areas that have been carved out by the longwall machines for their coal are purposely knocked down to cause a tunnel to collapse once the coal seam in that area has been depleted. My father has worked in those kind of mines before, and when I asked him about the experience, he only responded that "it was a blast", hopefully no pun intended.

Was it an earthquake that caused the collapse? It's possible, Emery county has always been a hotbed of seismic activity, but only on a very small scale, although there have been much more noticible quakes before. But odds are the seismographs were picking up on the collapse.

Can all six of them survive? Since the revised rules for mining were passed, it's very possible that they will. Most people in huntington that I knew were camping men, who knew survival skills back and forth, and they won't panic, they'll all hold out without a doubt. But it'll take at least three days for them to be reached, I can garuntee all of you that.

[gr8tfulmo]

I am getting a much different interpretation from the CEO Robert E. Murray interview this am ---- He has backed up his statement with a press release stating that there was NO RETREAT MINING, but PRIMARY MINING. Additionally, this event was caused by the EARTHQAUKE. It is evident by his remainder at the scene & compasionate statements that his concern is to get the miners out as quickly as possible.

[rfcnj68]

It is another reason this type of mining activity should be banned. And if a mining company is cited that many times in such a short period they should be shut down until these problems are corrected. I hope for the families the men come out okay.

[bobgee_1999]

d33pthroat1:

Thanks for your comment. You saved me the effort.

[d33pthroat1]

May the Lord be with these men if they are still alive. I pray for them and their families.
Posted by Boston1954

If the Lord wasn't with these men before the mine collapse, what makes you think He will be there now?

Look, bad things happen and good things happen. Why do people thank Him for the good but fail to blame Him for preventing the bad. Either hold Him responsible for both or admit that the Lord has nothing to with either.

[radiob-2009]

Posted by mpville72

Apparently you do not understand sarcasm.

[mpville72]

George?
Yes D I C K
Why did you stop holding the support beams?
My arms were getting tired and I had to take a call.
George
Yes D I C K
You better make some telephone calls as soon as you get out of the cave. People are trapped there.Bring some rain to the midwest once you are out also.

Posted by radiob at 06:53 PM : Aug 06, 2007

RADIOB?
Yes Mpville72
WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID?
UMMM.....I don't know?
EXACTLY!!

[dcbriefing]

For the latest news, please visit dcbriefing dot com

[dcbriefing]

For the latest news, please visit www.DCbriefing.com

[sharonjene]

From Minneapolis, you are in out thoughts and prayers. We are praying for your loved ones who are trapped. Now is the time for us in the Twin Cities to reach out to others. Together we can help each other through these trying times.

[radiob-2009]

George?
Yes D I C K
Why did you stop holding the support beams?
My arms were getting tired and I had to take a call.
George
Yes D I C K
You better make some telephone calls as soon as you get out of the cave. People are trapped there.Bring some rain to the midwest once you are out also.

[msnooy79]

What a shame. I hope they are ok, and make it out unharmed.

[boston1954]

May the Lord be with these men if they are still alive. I pray for them and their families.

[bareemperor]

Man you are either in the possession of some first-rate peyote, or are homeless and spout off insane comments while pushing your shopping cart around. How'd you even manage to log on?
Posted by rational_1 at 05:15 PM : Aug 06, 2007

I think the dude pushed an old lady away from her chair at the library and somehow managed to log in... Or President Bu$h slipped past the security at the White House and is pleading for help....

[rational_1]

whut great is a room full of toys to a parrot with no farm trails to hike and fertilize and irrigate naked and no drifting sick beds to dance get well feed world all about??
and no crashing spore bloom weed dragons to repair??

Posted by oakishpines at 01:31 PM : Aug 06, 2007

Man you are either in the possession of some first-rate peyote, or are homeless and spout off insane comments while pushing your shopping cart around. How'd you even manage to log on?

[bareemperor]

BareEmperor, who is probably a Republican, is laughing his a$$ off at you all who knee-jerked at that one!!
Posted by gramto11 at 01:47 PM : Aug 06, 2007

I was laughing my a$$ off at the goobers who didn't get the 'fault' (earthquake) joke - until I Googled "Bu$h coal mine safety"... Now I am starting to believe there may have been a dust/methane explosion due to safety violations at the non-union mine....

"President Bush%u2019s Mine Safety and Health chief David Dye shocked senators from both parties when he got up and left in the middle of a Jan. 23 Senate hearing on the West Virginia mining disaster. The message his action sent was clear: mine safety is not his priority. C-SPAN caught the scene for all Americans to see.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who chaired the hearing, said of the Dye walkout, %u201CI can%u2019t recall it ever happening before. We%u2019ll find a way to take appropriate note of it.%u201D

In the first three weeks of this year, 15 coal miners in West Virginia and Kentucky died on the job. A Jan. 2 explosion killed 12 miners at the Sago Mine, owned by International Coal Group (ICG). The one surviving miner remains in a coma. A roof collapse Jan. 10 took the life of a Kentucky miner. On Jan. 19, a fire swept through Massey Energy%u2019s Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in Melville, W.Va. Two days later, rescue crews found the bodies of Ellery Hatfield, 47, and Don Bragg, 33. None of these mines is union."

Could this really be Bu$h's fault after all???

[ellenrouse]

oakishpines needs to be investigated by Homeland Security or Perverted Justice.

I am praying for peace and mercy for the miners and their friends and families. It's so very sad.

[speakinup]

richdog_57 i agree; they're way passed sickening. ENOUGH YOU IDIOTS! Posted by jetlizhan

You know, I was going to put down that it was Bush's fault too - to see if anyone would notice how rediculous these Bush-bashers are. Somehow, it doesn't surprise me one of them beat me to the punch. The difference being, BareEmperor probably believes it is true that the Pres has something to do with the mine cave-in.

Some people do drugs. What can I say.

[bkylws]

Huh?