Robot To Assist In Desperate Utah Search

Families of six miners trapped since an August 6th collapse at the Crandall Canyon coal mine near Huntington, Utah, got some relief Sunday with news that a seventh hole is being drilled into the mountain and a camera-equipped robot has been flown to the scene to help 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. Officials say it can take images in the darkened cavern from about 50 feet away with the help of a 200-watt light, can travel 1,000 feet from the end of the test hole and has some ability to move around the rubble.

"We're very excited about it. The families are thrilled to hear this," said Colin King, a lawyer for the miners' families.

Robin Murphy, director of the Institute for Safety Security Rescue Technology at the University of South Florida, said her camera's chance of obtaining images of the trapped miners is a long shot. She said it was not clear whether the camera would fit all the way down the hole and into the mine, and that debris in the shaft could obscure any images.

"There's mud, there's rocks, there's things that make it unfavorable," Murphy said.

Also Sunday, the CEO of the company that operates the mine - Murray Energy, one of the largest privately owned mining companies in the U.S. - said the company is taking a second look at safety in one of its other Utah mines.

Bob Murray says Murray Energy is temporarily closing the Tower mine, to make safety upgrades, and in order to avoid layoffs, is offering jobs in Ohio and Illinois to miners from both the Tower and the West Ridge coal mines, another Murray Energy coal mine in Utah.

"This thing in Crandall Canyon is unprecedented," Murray told the Deseret Morning News, in Salt Lake City. "I ask myself 'What if that did occur at one of the other mines?' and I came up with the answer: I want more opinions and I want more modifications to the equipment."

Murray says the temporary shutdown affects 170 miners, who have until noon Monday to decide whether to take the jobs out-of-state. The newspaper says the miners would work for three weeks at the out-of-state jobs, with transportation, board, and utilities paid by Murray Energy. After three weeks, they'd be flown home to their families.

"If they choose this, there will be no one laid off and no one will miss a paycheck," says Murray.

Murray says he told the miners he expects the studies to take about a month but has warned them that it could take longer.

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 has never been clear if they survived the cave-in.

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

Sunday's announcement that the camera-equipped robot is on scene and ready to be used came a day after crews penetrated the mine with a sixth borehole, finding a debris-filled area too small for the men to survive, officials said.

"There could be no sign of life in such a condition," mine co-owner Bob Murray said Sunday.

Murray said the seventh hole will be drilled into the kitchen area of the mine, an area where miners are trained to flee in case of collapse. "We haven't given up hope," he said.

Murray had previously said the sixth borehole, drilled more than 1,700 feet deep, would be the last before sealing the mine.

"We believe the right thing to do is to put another hole down and try to locate these men and in discussions with MSHA that was agreed to and that is what has been done," said Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp.

The seventh hole was being started Sunday and officials did not estimate when it may be completed. Previous holes have taken about two days to hit the mine shaft.

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.

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

Murphy said the robotic camera will lowered into either the third or fourth boreholes drilled, neither of which had given any sign of the miners.

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 phenomenon known as mountain bumps.

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.

Bruce Hill, president and chief executive officer of UtahAmerican Energy, part owner in Crandall Canyon, said there was a possibility the mine company could continue to drill holes even after the completion of the seventh.