L.A. utility begins probe

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said Wednesday that the utility has begun an internal review into its safety and oversight roles at the Crandall Canyon coal mine in Utah that caved in Monday and trapped six miners.

While the DWP has no ownership interest in the mine, the department is part of a two-member oversight panel for the mine as the representative of the Intermountain Power Agency.

The Intermountain Power Agency is a group of Utah utilities and other power customers — including the DWP. The other panel member is Utah America Energy, co-owner and operator of the mine that collapsed.

The DWP operates the Intermountain Power Plant in Delta, Utah, from which the DWP and 35 other customers buy electricity.

DWP commission President David Nahai said commissioners learned of the DWP's role on the panel — which reviews all mine safety violations and citations issued by federal regulators — after the mine collapsed.

Nahai said the commission now wants more information on what the DWP's responsibilities may have been.

There is no evidence any of the problems reviewed by the panel contributed to the mine's collapse, DWP officials said.

Nahai said the DWP also did not appear to have any operational responsibility for the mine.

"At the commission level, we're just finding out about DWP's level of involvement on this two-member commission ... ," he said.

He said the commission wants to see all the reports to which the panel had access. He said the DWP also would cooperate with any ongoing investigations.

"We don't want to shirk any responsibility that may possibly be appropriate here," he said.

He also said he made inquiries after the mine collapsed to see whether there were any connections with the plant.

Only a small amount of coal still being extracted from the mine is going to the Intermountain Power Plant, said DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo.

"DWP's power supply is not in jeopardy," he said.

The DWP's role came to light as rescuers continued their race Wednesday to reach the missing miners.