Crandall Canyon remembrance

"We will never forget the families and friends of those who perished," Huntsman said. "Our actions as a state going forward will ensure that we do everything we can to make certain those who continue to mine coal will be as safe as possible."

To that end, Huntsman in July named 36-year mining veteran Garth Nielsen as the state's new mine safety director.

But a year after the Aug. 6 collapse, Havas said families of victims are angry, dismayed and frustrated over events they believe were avoidable.

Recent reports from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Labor have pointed blame at MSHA, Crandall Canyon Mine operator Genwal Resources, which is co-owned by Murray, and the engineering firm Agapito Associates Inc.

Along with the release of its report, MSHA proposed fining Genwal and Agapito over $1.5 million for violations that MSHA said directly contributed to the deaths of six miners. The fine, if the amount doesn't change after anticipated appeals, would be a record in the U.S. for a coal-mining incident.

The six miners killed in the initial collapse were Allred, 58; Don Erickson, 50; Jose Luis Hernandez, 23; Juan Carlos Payan, 22; Brandon Phillips, 24; and Manuel Sanchez, 41. Ten days later a collapse took the lives of rescuers Dale Black, 48; Gary Lynn Jensen, 53; and Brandon Kimber, 29.

Erickson's brother, Terry Erickson, and his father Erick Erickson, both veteran miners, also made the trip Wednesday with other family members.

"It kind of more or less put an end to thinking about it all the time," said Erickson's father, who lives in Price. "We'll be here quite often to pay our respects."

Don Erickson's mother, Lucile Erickson, called the site "hallowed ground," tearing up as she said, "He's still in there."

Erickson's parents and brother, like so many others, expressed their anger, saying they're unsure at where to direct it while at the same time trying to heal.

"He loved the mountains," Terry Erickson said about his brother. "So, I think he's going to like it."

Starting at about 8 a.m. immediate family members, whose names had to be on a list checked by Emery County sheriff's deputies, were the allowed first up the canyon that leads to the mine. There was a dedication ceremony led by Carl Sitterud, pastor of the Desert Edge Christian Chapel, where after weeks of frustration and anguish a year ago, families were finally told the search for the six men was over. Sitterud is a brother of Wendy Black, wife of killed rescuer Dale Black.

Sheriff Lamar Guymon called the ceremony and monument a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives.