PRICE — They looked out of place and felt out of place.

A group of tough-looking coal miners — sitting in comfy office chairs, listening to government employees try to explain a maze of bureaucracy while flipping through booklets about unemployment. Yet for the dozen or so laid-off miners who came here to the Department of Workforce Services office Thursday, it's one of their only options.

"I think it's a bunch of (expletive)," said Dustin Montoya, who was laid off from the West Ridge Mine. "They kind of try to make you feel better, but they don't really do anything for you."

The state put together a special workshop for the 170-plus miners who were laid off from Murray Energy Corp.'s mines in the aftermath of the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster, which has trapped six miners nearly 1,900 feet underground in a collapsed part of the mine since Aug. 6. The mine was closed 10 days later when a rescue effort killed three men and injured six others. The workers were transferred to another mine where, just a few days later, mine owner Bob Murray announced layoffs.

Murray offered to send some of the laid off workers to his mines in Ohio and Illinois. Montoya's father and about a dozen others took the offer.

He declined.

"I can't leave my family behind," Montoya said. "I got two young kids, a wife. I ain't going to to do it."

At Thursday's seminar, they went over things like unemployment insurance, training options and educational programs. Several companies that are offering jobs set up tables outside. Some were in other mines out of state; others were in different industries altogether.

"Somebody might be willing to come to Vernal and work for us," said Paul Moorman, who works in human resources for energy giant Halliburton.

Fortunately for the miners, the economy here is good. The Utah Department of Workforce Services said there is only a 3 percent unemployment rate in Utah's coal country.

"There are plenty of employment opportunities," said Curt Stewart, a spokesman for the agency. "They don't pay as well as a mining job."

Mining is a good job here, and layoffs affect not only the miners but the businesses and industries that supply and support mining. State authorities said they did not see these layoffs coming.

"What we usually get is called a 'warn notice'; it's where a company lets us know they are going to experience a layoff in the near future. That way we can come and talk to the employees on site," Stewart said Thursday. "We didn't get that. It was announced overnight."

The only indication may have been a harshly worded letter to Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., in which Murray said the governor's comments about him were placing 700 jobs in Carbon and Emery counties in jeopardy. The Department of Workforce Services said it has not been told if the layoffs are temporary or permanent.

Montoya is able to get $400 a week in unemployment. This is the second time he's been laid off by Murray Energy. The first time was 15 days before Christmas 2006, when Murray laid off about 100 miners. Montoya went back to work at West Ridge Mine in March. Now he's out of work again.

Montoya said he will spend time with his family while he weighs his options, but one thing is for certain: "I think I'm done. I'm done working for Bob Murray and his company," he said.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com