Ted Farmer, with the Price office of the agency, said, "I am an Emery County boy. I've been in these coal mines all my life. When a miner is trapped or killed, it affects me greatly. That's why I am in the safety business."

The mine is part of UtahAmerican Energy's Genwal complex. Its parent company is Ohio-based Murray Energy, which Murray said is about the fourth or fifth largest mining company in the country. The Genwal complex is its smallest operation with about 71 employees. The company operates 11 mines throughout the country, with a total of 3,300 employees in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Utah. There are 700 employees in Utah, including workers assigned to the Westridge and Tower mines.

Murray said the mined coal goes to power plants throughout the Midwest. He said it is not a mine with as much gas as others. While there is methane gas in the mine, Murray said it is not a "heat mine."

Don Shoemaker, 62, of Ephraim, came up to the command post because he has friends who work in the mine. He's not sure if any of his friends are among the six men trapped, but having also worked and been trapped in mines, he knows what they are going through. "All mines are dangerous," he said. "Safety comes first. You take care of yourself, you take care of your buddies, you take care of your job." He said he worked in the Crandall Canyon Mine for about two years back in the early 1980s and has spent his life working in mines throughout the United States. He said he hoped the men were sitting calmly, with their food and water gathered around them, patiently waiting for rescuers.

"(They need to) be calm. It's hard to do, I'm telling you," he said.

MSHA reported a 2004 violation for the Crandall Canyon mine based on a May 2003 inspection in which operators failed to adequately control dust generated by drilling. The company was fined $6,000.

In a section discussing penalties, the order said the Crandall Canyon mine had a history of about 205 paid violations in the two years prior to the May 2003 incident, which was described as serious. The mine superintendent was found to have negligence that was "high" and he was fined $200, according to records.

A July inspection resulted in several citations.

Emery County is one of the state's top producers for coal. Jim Springer, spokesman for the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, said Emery County has four active coal mines: the Emery Deep, Crandall-Genwal, Bear Canyon and Deep Creek mines. All except Emery Deep are in Huntington Canyon.

In 2000, two men were killed and eight others were injured in an explosion at the Willow Creek Mine near Price. The mine has not reopened.

In 1984, the Wilberg Mine fire killed 27 people. In 1924, an explosion at the Castle Gate Mine killed 172 people. Utah's biggest mine tragedy was the 1900 Scofield mine disaster, claiming 200 lives.

---

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com; bau@desnews.com