Mine Crews Struggle To Drill Relief Holes
Rescue of Six Men Trapped In Utah Mine Is Still Days Away
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All Efforts Focused On Rescue
Utah's coal country is working tirelessly to reach six miners trapped in a collapsed mine, but so far little progress has been made. John Blackstone reports.
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Video
Miners' Families Pitching In
Only On The Web: John Blackstone talks with Julie Jones, who's both mother and wife to miners in Utah, and whose son is part of the rescue effort.
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Mine Rescue Needs 3 Days
Mine officials say they will need at least three days until the six trapped coal miners in Utah can be reached. Gwen Belton reports.
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Bob Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp., spoke about the progress being made in the rescue attempt of six trapped miners on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007. (KUTV)
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Equipment arrives at the entrance to the Crandall Canyon Mine on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007, northwest of Huntington, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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Wylee Sherman, 3, touches a sign that his family made in sympathy for the families of the trapped miners at Canyon View Jr. High, where the families are staged in Huntington, Utah, on Aug. 7, 2007. (AP/Deseret Morning News, M. Brandy)
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Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, left, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, center, and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., at a Aug. 7, 2007, briefing on efforts to rescue six trapped coal miners. (AP/SaltLakeTribune/A.Hartmann)
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Miners head to their vehicle after their shifts trying to rescue six trapped coal miners at the entrance to the Crandall Canyon Mine, northwest of Huntington, Utah, on Aug. 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)
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Photo Essay
Utah Mine Collapse
Six coal miners trapped by cave-in more than 1,500 feet below surface.
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Timeline
U.S. Mine Disasters
A look at some of the notable U.S. coal mining disasters over the years.
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Ground Shakers
Learn about what triggers an earthquake and get details on some of the world's worst.
Officials held out hope that the men survived Monday's thunderous collapse and that the emergency supplies would help keep them alive while other rescuers tried to punch their way through the rubble in the mine shaft and bring them out.
The crews drilling the two parallel relief holes made encouraging progress Wednesday and could break through by Friday, said Bob Murray, chairman of mine co-owner Murray Energy Corp.
"I consider this to be very, very good news," he said. But it could take at least seven days to actually reach the men and bring them out, Murray said.
The drilling of the relief holes involved boring an extraordinary 1,500 feet straight down, or 150 stories into the earth, through hard sandstone — a task that required precise alignment of the drill and posed the constant risk of a broken bit.
Nothing has been heard from the men since the cave-in, not even the hammering on the ceiling that miners are trained to do in an emergency.
The parallel effort to clear a path inside the blocked mine suffered a major setback Tuesday when seismic shocks wiped out all progress in removing rubble.
Murray offered no estimate on how long the miners could survive — that is, if they are still alive — but backed off a claim Tuesday that they could subsist for perhaps weeks on available air.
"The oxygen depends on the size of the cavity they are in, and I have no idea what size that cavity is," he said Wednesday.
The task illustrated the specific dangers associated with the type of deep mining practiced in the West, where the terrain is rougher than it is in Appalachia and the coal mines are dug far, far deeper into the earth.
Murray’s Crandall canyon mine has had 324 safety violations in the past four years, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. But violations can be as minor as a misplaced wrench, and it's not uncommon for mines to have hundreds of citations. Only violations that present an imminent danger of injury or death can get a mine closed down, and Crandall Canyon had none of those.
Over the past few days, the rescuers had to bulldoze 8,000 feet of road across the wilderness and use a helicopter to bring in heavy equipment. They had to balance their drilling rig on a 23-degree mountainside. And then they had to begin boring 1,500 feet straight down into the earth.
The circumstances made the rescue operation "extremely hard, one of the toughest we've had to deal with," said Allyn Davis, who oversees Western mine safety operations for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 80 Commentsoakishpines, enough of your c-r-a-p! Get a life, preferably somewhere other than on this web site!
oakishpines, it's time for your meds again.
Maybe this time we should up the dosage...
...
I don't work in a mine but if we had that many violations where I do work we would be shut down long ago.
If you are one of the 6 still underground "one" is obviously too many.
Nice attitudes boys and girls, very warm and fuzzy. They are here and they need prayers now, not condemnation.
Seismologists around the country say that the tremors registered on the Richtor scales do not have the patterns or indications of a natural earthquake. The indications of the tremors are that of actions that come from a mine, and not a fault line.
Clearly, the CEO has everything to gain by blaming nature. But he has everthing to lose if the cause of this collapse is determined otherwise.
If the cause of the collapse is man-made, then hopefully those responsible will be severely punished.
It is a shame that hard working people have to put their lives at a greater than needed risk all because of the greed from a select few.
You lived up to the 'nut' part of your nickname! I don't care what religion or what the politics of those trapped miners is, nobody should wish them dead! What a cruel and stupid thing to say!
I hope they are able to break through soon, but to be honest, If it takes another 3 days, I'm not too hopeful about their fate.
Posted by thisandthat1 at 06:38 PM : Aug 07, 2007
.............
That's an excellent observation.
Sadly, in business school, there is a practice that is taught called "Decision Science" or something similar. It is a practice that businesses (in our "free market" system) that determines the costs of the various decisions that are made. "Decision Science" focuses more on the gain or loss of profit based on a particular decision made, not the social or ethical aspect.
With that being said, the mining companies compare the costs of fixing the safety flaws in their mines versus the cost of the fines levied against the company if the safety flaws are not fixed. It has been clearly demonstrated, in many industries, that the fines and penalties that the government hands down are far less costly than actually addressing the main safety problems in the first place.
The corporations realize that the potential loss of profits caused by investing in safer working environments is too great of a loss in the minds of the executives.... who have been taught in their respective business schooling, that the money is more important than the lives of their workers and/or customers.
Posted by thisandthat1 at 07:48 PM : Aug 07, 2007
.........
That is 110% FACT!
That is 'Free Market' economics at work.
Enjoy!
See Religion and Money, hand in hand, at work in our society.
(fast forward through the first 9 minutes, as it's just visual fluff).
Too loudly...
Someone sent those workers down there to do whatever they were ordered to do.
It wasn't an earthquake.
The movement that followed wasn't earthquakes.
The owner is pretending he knows more than seismologists.
He is covering his a$$ for insurance purposes.
What a creep.
There wasn't ONE rethug at the AFL-CIO debate tonight. That's because rethugs have ONLY distain for people who have to work for a living.
If so, then how come there hasn't been any reports of the usual AFTERSHOCKS, aftershocks accompany earthuakes and continue for some time afterwards.
A mine collapse would create a seismic event on the graphs and then they would stay at normal background readings, as they HAVE BEEN.
"This year, the mine received 32 citations, a dozen of them serious, including one last month for not having the required emergency escape routes. "
Of course not, because it costs a LOT more money to do that work to correct the violations,than simply pay those small fines, one was $90 what a joke. Let's see, shall I spend $20,000 in labor costs and delays to correct this violation, or just dont bother and pay the $90 fine?
"Proof POSITIVE that our troops are NOTHING MORE then cannon fodder.
Posted by JohnShaft4 "
Well DUH, what did you think? they are the bush regime's azzwipes, he used them like dumb sheeple after they fell for his lies and signed up to 'protect the country' LOL
Gee, with all the modern technology we have, blowing off dynamite and tapping on the ceiling is like right out of the 19th century before electric and telegraph. To say nothing of the dynamite maybe disturbing already unstable ground.
Even a dam telegraph key would be better than this idiocy.
Do Murray and his hirelings view these trapped miners as humans in immediate need of rescue, or as potential hostile witnesses whose lives are best waited out?
The UofU's list of earthquakes: http://www.seis.utah.edu/recenteqs/Quakes/quakes0.html
shows a quake occurred the day before on Sunday Aug 5 at a 19:44:48 time with a magnitude of 1.8 at a 6.6 km depth at the EXACT LOCATION but 5.0 km deeper than and 7 hours BEFORE the Monday Aug 6, 3.9 magnitude quake at 1.6 km attributed to the mine collapse.
If the govt authorities believe the 3.9 quake was the mine collapsing and Murray a big liar, then why haven't they and the Liberal CBS reporters who don't have the brains to discover this UofU site even considered the earlier smaller quake below the mine to have possibly caused the mine above to collapse?
Maybe it's because they're quick to judge and portray Murray as a liar and thus an evil Corporate exploiter of natural resources and a major polluter of global warming carbon emissions. Quick, call 1-800-AL-GORE!
Note how this CBS article points out Murray's association with the GOP - as if it has anything to do with the mine collapsing. CBS is nothing but a smear artist.
The two events here: http://www.seis.utah.edu/recenteqs/Quakes/quakes0.html
MAP 3.9 2007/08/06 02:48:40 39.465N 111.237W 1.6 21 km (13 mi) ESE of Mount Pleasant, UT
map 1.8 2007/08/05 19:44:48 39.462N 111.238W 6.6 21 km (13 mi) ESE of Mount Pleasant, UT
Their is no "mine safety" at all in America today, and there was very little before the Bush administration stripped that "little" away.
But today we must hope for the innocent, and give all to their rescue.
Tomorrow we shall pursue justice.
ST
"The depth of human compassion may be measured by how often they forgive their gods."
SearingTruth
"Children should not know fear, or death, or suffering, for it is not their lot to know. Theirs is a time for joy, and wonder, and a time of great discovery. Let them never despair, or hurt, or want. This should be our highest calling, and our most sincere dedication."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
"Scientists believe the seismic waves in the area of the Crandall Canyon mine were "the signature of the collapse and that the collapse was not caused by an earthquake," said James W. Dewey, a seismologist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.
Scientists have not ruled out a natural earthquake since the region surrounding the mine is seismically active, and they do not know the exact time the mine collapsed.
But, Dewey said, "the data we have seen seem more consistent with the collapse being the cause of the 'earthquake' rather than the other way around."
On Monday, University of Utah seismographs recorded seismic waves of 3.9 magnitude near the mine. At least 10 aftershocks were felt more than 24 hours after the collapse, with the strongest registering 2.2 magnitude.
Scientists say quakes caused by mine collapses tend to occur at shallower depths and at different frequencies than natural earthquakes.
The first motions of the Utah disturbance indicated a downward movement consistent with a collapse, scientists said. If it was a natural quake, it would have produced up and down motions on the seismograms. The quake occurred anywhere from 2,000 to 8,500 feet underground."
In other words, Politicus, you tell a half truth to cover up the whole truth.
There were two earlier earthquakes: AT THE EXACT SAME LOCATION as the two I noted below.
Sunday
map 1.6 2007/08/05 05:39:33 39.464N 111.228W 7.0 21 km (13 mi) ESE of Mount Pleasant, UT
And on Friday
map 1.5 2007/08/03 04:39:17 39.461N 111.232W 6.2 21 km (13 mi) ESE of Mount Pleasant, UT
I'll ask the questions.
Were these earlier seismic events caused by mining operation demolitions - or natural quakes possibly causing the mine to collapse at the higher 1.6 km depth? Does the mine continue a further 5 km below?
Why hasn't this seismic info readily available on the internet been reported and questioned before CBS decided to smear Murray?
What would the seismic signature be if they were indeed doing retreat mining?
Would not the University of Utah's seismographs show the "planned" collapses as the remaining support pillers were mined out?
I would expect that those same seismographs could give a pretty decent record of most major activity that has ever occurred at Murray's mine...
I am referring to THREE SEISMIC EVENTS which occured BEFORE the 3.9 quake on Monday - the day of the mine collapse.
One of three happened on FRIDAY and two on SUNDAY before the 3.9 quake on MONDAY - when the mine collapsed.
You're referring to AFTERSHOCKS!
So you're the one using half-truths.
What's wrong? Can't read a website?
http://www.seis.utah.edu/recenteqs/Quakes/quakes0.html
The website records those aftershocks to which you refer on MONDAY after the 3.9 quake.
Sheesh....
I was suggesting that those "THREE SEISMIC EVENTS which occured BEFORE the 3.9 quake on Monday - the day of the mine collapse" may also show a predominately downward motion instead of the sinusoidal waveform of a true earthquake.
In other words, those three events your argument of innocence hinges on may instead be a smoking gun pointing at retreat mining - which is the removal of as much coal as possible from the remaining supporting pillars until the roof falls in.
See http://www.umwa.org/mining/ugmine.shtml
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
Do you really believe the mine had pillars 5-6 km high if the mine were 7 km deep?
That's almost 6 miles, friend!
If you look at the UofU site, natural quakes are occuring in UT, ID, NV at depths down to 8.0, (6.3 km at Yellowstone with its quivering), yet somehow quakes at 6.2 and 7.0 can't cause a mine to collapse at 1.6 km above them?
I would note, however, that if your arrangement wins out the question of the wisdom, or negligence, of mining in an area with such a large amount of seismic activity enters the equation.
As does what additional precautions were being taken to forestall the risk associated with seismic activity?
And in particular the question of why the mine was cited last month for having less than half the escape routes mandated by law becomes of great significance when you are operating in a zone of known seismic activity.
That might mean less than half, one too few, or none at all...
(I would have to correct my km to miles conversion which is actually 1 km = 0.62 miles)
The article states the mine's saftey record is "slightly better than the industry average."
As far as locating a mine near seismic activity, not all seismic activity can be foretold and is not known until it occurs. The area was considered stable and is noted elsewhere that UT never has had a mining accident caused by an earthquake - but that doesn't preclude one could occur or did occur in this case..
The premise that the 3.9 quake was natural or caused by the mine collapse is still up in the air. Aftershocks indicate it may have been due to the collapse.
My point is that these earlier quakes could have caused the mine to collapse - they were directly below it - I also admit I don't know the depth of the mine - but the earlier deeper quakes were never considered by CBS and the media - who apparently assumed the ground was stable before the 3.9 event on Monday - thus due to their lack of investigative news reporting, presumed Murray was lying and smeared him - associating him with the GOP, specifically quoting to him referring to the "Lord" (as if family members of the missing miners aren't praying) - as if he were some religious freak.
It's a joke by the Liberal media. Smear a coal mine owner when facts which could vindicate him are available at the UofU site.
Don't you think it is wonderful how seismic activity won't stop mining but will stop rescue attempts?
Says something about priorities, at a minimum.
elizabeth botellier, dead at age 22, murdered
in las vegas. by persons unknown. case never
solved. like stinks then ya die, punk rocker
saying. started in tenement districts
of northern ireland and bernadette devlin. oh, but ye better be orange. colours of kgb are
orange, orange and orange. pessimism.
hittin' that ole crack pipe mighty early this morning, eh?
Posted by jetlizhan"
god doesnt bless people, the lord doesnt help people, and prayers dont work chief.
www.atheists.org
www.evilbible.com
The dispute is not rather or not there was an earthquake , the debate is rather is was an earthquake that caused the mine to collapse, or the mine collapse itself that caused it.
While the mine operator insists an earthquake caused the accident, seismic officials disagree. I quote "Seismologists now definitively say the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine caused a seismic event, and no earthquake occurred, despite owner Robert Murray's insistence Tuesday that a quake caused the mine collapse that trapped six miners."
The point is you don't know any more than anyone else the exact cause of the collapse!
I hope this man is not the only one who is directing this rescue effort if it is local authority should intervene.
sorry (not really), but i won't rant on and on with your kind.
"Sunday, July 22, 2007
In the final poll of a series measuring perceptions of media bias, the Associated Press, local television stations, MSNBC, and CNBC are all perceived as tilting to the left when reporting the news.
Earlier releases showed that Americans tend to believe the major broadcast networks (CBS,NBC,ABC) CNN, and NPR have a liberal bias. Fox News is seen as having a bias in the other direction. In print, the New York Times, Washington Post, and local newspapers were also seen as having a liberal bias."
.....SO......when? is our liberal MSM wolfpack gong to implement "affirmative action" programs that include NOT EXCLUDE "moderates" and "conservative".
And we wonder why our corrupt liberal MSM wolfpack press hasn't had "big stories" reporting these opinions from the American public.
Gee.........I wonder why.
My prayers are with them (even though some athiests think differently)
Sure would be nice to hear alot of "positive" thinking for these guys. Can't imagine what the families are going through - almost like those in Minneapolis still waiting to find their loved ones... been a sad month lately -
Seems to me that everyone is doing what they can despite the ranting of the owner. Of course he is scared - and should be BUT we have to remember that retaliation (monitarily) will only cause this mine to close and then we'll have a whole town almost unemployed - time to pull together and think positive and lets get these guys out. Find out later (if we can) what happened and then go from there. Right now - all that matters is getting them out.
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