Settlement reached in Crandall Canyon civil suits

Following months of negotiations, all of the parties to civil lawsuits stemming from the August 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine disaster have reached a settlement.

Terms of the multiparty agreement were not released, according to attorneys for both sides.

The families of those killed and injured in the mine are relieved to put this portion of the tragedy behind them, their attorney, Edward Havas, told the Deseret News on Tuesday.

"It is time to focus on the future, even as we remember the past, and time to concentrate on the living, even as we remember those who were lost," Havas stated in a news release.

On Aug. 6, 2007, six miners were trapped when an area of the Crandall Canyon coal mine collapsed near Huntington in Emery County. Days later, three rescuers died trying to reach the trapped miners.

The bodies of those trapped inside were never recovered, and the mine was later permanently shuttered.

"I congratulate the focused, dedicated efforts of the many individuals, attorneys, company managers and entities involved in the settlement negotiations," said Kevin Anderson, attorney for UtahAmerican Energy Inc., parent company of the mine operator, Genwal Resources Inc. "Those efforts do justice to the heroism of the rescuers following the Aug. 6 accident."

Genwal Resources is a subsidiary of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp.

E-MAIL: jlee@desnews.com