WASHINGTON — A harsh Senate report on the Crandall Canyon Mine accident issued Thursday blames Murray Energy and the Mine Safety and Health Administration for last year's disaster that killed nine people.

For the families of those lost in the accident, the report confirms a lot of what they already knew or suspected, according to their attorney.

But Murray Energy and others, including Utah's senators, were quick to point out it is not the final word on the accident.

"This is a comprehensive and very strongly worded report," said Edward Havas, an attorney with the Salt Lake law firm Dewsnup, King & Olsen that represents most of the families of those killed or injured in the accident. "It doesn't pull any punches. It should be a wake-up call for others in the industry that dangerous practices are still going on and should not be tolerated."

The report, issued by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, known as HELP, is the first report from Congress with at least one other in the works and the MSHA official investigation still under way.

Shortly after the accident, Kennedy requested e-mails, any documents on mine plan changes and MSHA consideration of them, inspection reports, meeting minutes, e-mails, handwritten notes and other communication between the mine owners and MSHA officials, and a variety of others from the Labor Department — many of which are quoted in the report released Thursday.

Havas said the report serves as a "good road map" as the firm prepares the families' litigation on the accident.

The HELP committee had a hearing in October and families of the miners and rescuers, along with Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., testified before the House Education and Labor Committee a day later.

House and Senate committees have subpoenaed Murray Energy CEO Bob Murray, but it is not clear when he will come to Washington to talk about the accident. The House Education and Labor Committee is still working on its investigation.

Kennedy said the 75-page report's finding warrants a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

"The committee's investigation has revealed that the owner of Crandall Canyon Mine, Murray Energy, disregarded dangerous conditions at the mine, failed to tell federal regulators about these dangers, conducted unauthorized mining and — as a result — exposed its miners to serious risks," Kennedy said.

"MSHA also unconscionably failed to protect miners by hastily rubber-stamping the plan. This is a clear case of callous disregard for the law and for safety standards, and hard-working miners lost their lives."

Despite rescue efforts, the bodies of six miners remain entombed in the mine since an August 2007 collapse in Emery County. Days after the accident, three rescuers died while trying to dig out the men.