Coal firms are cleared in 2 deaths

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has determined two mining companies weren't responsible for two coal miners' deaths in January.

The Jan. 4 death of Russell K. "Mooney" Crane, 44, of Salina, was determined to be violation free because "no MSHA standard applies to the situation," MSHA spokesman Rich Kulczewski said. Crane died shortly after he was hit in the head by a chain while trying to move stuck equipment at Canyon Fuel Co.'s Sufco Mine near Salina.

Crane was part of a crew trying to free a large steel shield that holds up rock above a longwall mining machine that removes seams of coal deep underground. The shield had become "iron bound," or stuck in place.

In another investigation, mine safety inspector Lester Coleman found no violations of mining laws in a Jan. 22 accident in which Jacob G. Jorgensen, 29, of Castle Dale, was killed while driving a tractor on the surface of Andalex Resources Inc.'s mines near Price, about 100 miles south of Salt Lake City.