Murray offering jobs in Ohio and Illinois to Utah miners

HUNTINGTON — Bob Murray made good on his threat to cut jobs in Utah's coal country early today.

Now 170 workers at Murray's Tower and West Ridge mines have until noon Monday to decide whether to take a job at one of Murray's mines in Illinois or Ohio.

Murray said he is temporarily shutting down the Tower Mine to make safety upgrades.

"This thing in Crandall Canyon is unprecedented," Murray said of the mine collapse Aug. 6 that trapped six miners. "I ask myself what if that did occur at one of the other mines, and I came up with the answer, I want more opinions and I want more modifications to the equipment."

He met with workers at the Tower Mine 7 a.m. today to offer alternative job packages to the miners.

If the workers take the deal, they will receive free board, utilities and transportation to the Illinois and Ohio mines, Murray said. They will work three weeks straight and then can return home to their families in Utah.

"If they choose this, there will be no one laid off. And there will be no one miss a paycheck," Murray said.

Operations at the Crandall Canyon Mine have been halted since Aug. 6, when a cavity in the mine collapsed, trapping six miners. West Ridge is still in operation.

The mine shut-down comes four days after Murray sent Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. a letter blaming Huntsman for putting hundreds of mining jobs in Carbon and Emery counties at risk.

"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."

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.

Murray refused to comment today on the verbal battle with Huntsman, other than to say, "I don't know what the governor's motives are in his statements."

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com, wleonard@desnews.com