At odds: Murray says Huntsman endangers jobs

HUNTINGTON — Mine owner Bob Murray says Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s recent comments about rescue efforts for six trapped miners have put hundreds of mining jobs in Utah's coal country in peril.

Deseret Morning News graphic   Letter to Gov. Huntsman(150 KB .pdf file)

"If you persist in your statements and course of action, you, Governor, are going to jeopardize 700 jobs in Carbon and Emery Counties," Murray said in a letter obtained Friday by the Deseret Morning News.

"I cannot maintain them alone, and I definitely cannot do it if I am going to be your whipping-boy."

The letter emerges as drilling efforts continue today in what may be a final attempt to learn the fates of the miners trapped inside a collapsed part of the Crandall Canyon Mine. The drill has been moving through 1,700 feet of mountain to an area where the miners were last believed to have been working. The previous five holes drilled through the mountain have failed to make contact with the miners and have not shown any signs of life.

Murray has said that if this latest hole reveals no sign of life, he will abandon the rescue effort.

It has now been 20 days since Carlos Payan, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Brandon Phillips, Manuel Sanchez and Kerry Allred became trapped nearly 1,900 feet underground when a portion of the mine collapsed Aug. 6 in a seismic event that registered 3.9 on the Richter scale. Since then, rescuers have been frantically drilling and digging to reach them. On Aug. 16, another cave-in at the Crandall Canyon Mine killed three people and injured six others. Three of the six have been released from hospitals, while the other three remain hospitalized in varying conditions.

On Friday, miner Brandon Kimber, 29, was buried in Moab. Funeral services have also been held for Gary Jensen, 54, and Dale Black, 49.

'This guy'

Murray's letter was written in response to recent comments Huntsman made about the rescue effort.

"If it takes every dollar this guy has in his bank account, he needs to bring closure to this darn thing. We've got families of six good people who are currently sitting in that mine," Huntsman said last week.

In his letter, Murray criticized the governor, saying he has damaged the reputations of mine operators Murray Energy Corp., UtahAmerican Energy and "thousands of coal miners who do respect what I have done." Murray has owned the Crandall Canyon Mine and the South Crandall Mine for about a year, and also owns the Aberdeen and West Ridge mines in Carbon County.