Mine co-owner needs to answer questions

Congressional committee meetings can become spotlights for grandstanding politicians. It was not too surprising to hear West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd pause for effect last week as he asked Richard Stickler, the man on the hot seat, what "... is the problem at MSHA?"

MSHA is the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that regulates and oversees mining in the United States. Stickler is its director. Byrd's pointed question drew applause from some in attendance.

Stickler was alone on the hot seat. He should not have been. Crandall Canyon Mine co-owner Robert Murray should have been right next to him. Whatever really happened at the Utah mine last month will require answers from both men.

Because, grandstanding or not, politicians were right to convene hearings into the collapse that caused six men to be irretrievably lost and three more killed trying to rescue them. The public, and particularly people who work in the mining industry, have an interest in understanding whether corners were cut and rules ignored.

Murray instructed his company to tell senators he was "deeply involved in the aftermath of the rescue efforts" and could not attend. That aftermath involves sorrow and mourning. It likely does not involve the sort of time-consuming urgency of the rescue efforts. Murray should have attended. His absence sent a troubling message about his own willingness to confront the facts at Crandall Canyon.

It wasn't the first such message.

Virtually from the start, Murray was adamant that the mine collapse was caused by an earthquake. He kept insisting on this in public statements despite assurances from seismologists that no earthquake occurred. In the first news conference, Murray seemed at least as concerned with absolving his company as with finding the lost miners.

And Stickler allowed Murray to remain the public face of the rescue efforts despite Murray's often emotional displays and despite his false claims. Federal law requires MSHA to be the main communicator.

The Senate subcommittee hearing produced testimony from mining experts that MSHA should have known about problems in Crandall Canyon and should not have allowed mining there to continue. Hindsight always seems crystal clear, but these claims deserve to be fully investigated.

Congress isn't the only body that will study what happened. MSHA itself has opened an investigation. A House committee has launched one, too. And Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., an open critic of Murray and his handling of the disaster, empaneled a Utah Mine Safety Commission to see if the disaster should prompt the state to regulate mine safety, as well.

Politicians always have an eye toward public perception. That's the nature of what they do. It can make hearings particularly uncomfortable. But often the questions that make sound bites on the evening news are exactly the ones that need to be asked.

Murray can't dodge those questions forever.