The 67-year-old Ohio native worked for North American Coal Corp. for 31 years, rising to CEO.

At Tuesday's press conference he emphasized in his mining experience he has "had a man die in my arms" and been trapped in mines himself.

He left North American Coal in 1987 after a disagreement.

The satirical article in the UMWA journal said Murray felt depressed about the situation and sat on his back porch contemplating his future when a squirrel hopped up next to him, looked him in the eye and said, "Bob Murray, you should be operating your very own mines."

Venturing out on his own, he founded Murray Energy Corp. from a mortgaged home.

The Cleveland-based company now runs 11 coal mines in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Utah, producing a combined 32 million tons per year for electrical utilities, including the Intermountain Power Agency outside Delta. It employs 3,000 people.

UtahAmerican Energy Inc., which operates Crandall Canyon Mine, employs about 500 people, 71 of whom work at the Crandall Canyon site. Overall, the Utah operation produces 7 million tons of coal annually.

Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said Murray takes Monday's cave-in personally.

"He's like a special forces colonel when his men are caught behind enemy lines. He's not going to let anything stand in the way of him and his men, and he'll make sure they're safe and their needs are cared for," he said.

Raney described Murray's mining reputation as "one of the most professional in the business."

Murray, staunch defender of coal mining and vocal skeptic of climate change, has testified before Congress several times, including this past March.

"You see, so-called 'global warming' is a human issue to me, not just an environmental one," he said.

Congress, the news media and the pundits have skewed the debate to become preoccupied with "possible, speculative environmental disasters of climate change. However, few are giving adequate attention to destruction that we will definitely see for American working people from all the climate change proposals" under consideration, he added.

Murray filed a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit against the Akron Beacon Journal in 2001 after the newspaper published a profile of him. Murray took exception to several statements in the story. The lawsuit was ultimately settled out of court. Terms were not disclosed.

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