West Ridge coal mine shuts down longwall operation

EAST CARBON, Carbon County — A Utah coal mine says it has been forced to shut down major operations a third time in a dispute with federal regulators.

The West Ridge mine near Price was operating a longwall mining machine by remote control in the interest of safety but said regulators asked it to stop, disassemble the machinery and skip a section of the coal panel.

UtahAmerican Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., said miners are now out of work in a standoff over the best way to proceed in a mine troubled by mountain "bounces."

A bounce is a seismic jolt that can propel lethal chunks of coal inside a mine, but the company said the Jan. 31 injury that intensified federal scrutiny was caused by a foreman losing his balance and falling down and not the result of being hit by a burst of coal.

Since then, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has twice ordered the longwall operation shut down, forcing the layoff of miners each time, the company said in a news release issued late Saturday.

After the second order, the company said it voluntarily agreed to operate the machinery by remote control, but that step failed to satisfy regulators. UtahAmerican said it had to lay off miners a third time, but didn't say how many were put out of work, or what day that happened.

"Even though the automated system has been working and all employee safety has been provided (for,) the longwall is idled again, as MSHA has directed the company to stop mining immediately at the next crosscut, pull the longwall out, and move to another panel which is not available," the statement said.

The company quoted its own engineers and experts saying it would be safer to keep working the longwall mining machine than to disassemble the machinery and skip to another section of the coal panel.

The company contends a senior MSHA official who has no experience with western U.S. mining ordered the machinery moved based on the wrong assessments of inspectors at the mine.

"Shutting down operations and forcing implementation of certain plans is an abuse of discretion and a capricious use of supervisory authority by MSHA," Kevin Anderson, a Salt Lake City lawyer who represents Murray Energy, said in the statement.

Murray Energy has come under increased pressure from federal regulators since its Crandall Canyon mine, also in Utah, collapsed in August 2007, leaving six miners entombed inside.

A rescue effort ended 10 days later when another cave-in killed another two miners and an MSHA inspector, although the company kept drilling holes in an unsuccessful effort to find the trapped miners.

An MSHA spokeswoman did not respond to an e-mail sent Sunday by The Associated Press to her BlackBerry device for a fuller explanation of the agency's position at the West Ridge mine.

Anderson didn't immediately respond to a message sent to his cell phone. UtahAmerican Energy President Bruce Hill, reached Sunday by the AP, refused to answer any questions. Other executives for Murray Energy didn't respond to e-mails; a public-relations representative said she couldn't provide any additional details.