Reader comments
A matter of safety: Utah's coal mines repeatedly break rules

Thank you for such a well researched article. A great example of what good journalism can be.

And Orrin Hatch wants us to open up a huge strip mine near Bryce Canyon to further destroy land and foul our air. Proud of your choice?

It sounds like without MSHA things would be even worse but like OSHA sometimes visits are farther apart in some locations.

In my opinion, often times the "honest" people are the ones who diligently follow the regulations (not only in mining, but in land use, water watering etc.) and some of the others will push the edge as far as they can. If enforcement is not done or effective, then they continue to "get by with" those actions that have been determined not to be in the best intrests of society.

I think we (meaning individuals &, businesses) must resolve to do a better job of following rules and teaching our families to do so. If not we will find only a few people doing so to society's detriment not only now but in the future. If rules are wrong, lets get them changed, in the meantime we are obligated to follow them in our country.

"Still, with all of that, and until the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster, coal mining in Utah had been safer in recent years than in the rest of the United States, ..."

Your headline is sensationalized. Your article and research therein, repeatedly contradicts it. Never answered is the question as to whether the Crandall Canyon Mine was fined for violations in direct relation to THIS ACCIDENT. Excessive coal dust and the other significant violation caused this accident? The cause of this disaster has yet to be determined. Although it will take time... not in time for another sensationalized report.

Although coal mining is dangerous, until we get our heads (and our wallets) around other sources of energy such as building a nuclear power plant in this state, using more wind power or channeling water (in a desert?) for our power needs, coal mining will continue.

The coal miners are "expendable" because of our own monetary priorities. We'd rather spend our excessive amounts of money on breakable, dangerous cheap stuff from China. Let that nation deal with the pollution excessive manufacturing causes. (As long as they clean the air for the '08 Olympics.)

If you truly support change in coal mining, then consume less coal-derived energy, support alternative power resources and then equally employ a former coal miner in a safer industry. And finally, elect those that care about coal miners, and these fuel issues, all the time and not just this last week.

Leslie in Orem

Richard Stickler, head of the MSHA, was an interim appointment (while congress is out of session) by President Bush. There is no way congress would ever have confirmed him for that job. Even staunch Republicans were wary of his long standing association with the coal industry. He has consistently refused any increase in safety standards, and has always sided with the mine owners and conglomerates on anything that would increase profit. This is another episode of cronyism and incompetence in high level appointments. Mr. Stickler should resign immediately.

There are going to be some very interesting Congressional hearings about this, but who can do a thorough and honest presentation? Certainly not the MSHA or the mine owners. Independent mine engineers and geologists are the only ones to believe.

My family prays daily for those poor souls lost deep underground, and of course for the grieving families.

This tragedy did not have to happen if more people chose the right.

So, instead of a fine how about shutting down the mine until the owner shapes up? Isn't a life worth it??

One cannot judge a mine's safety by counting the number of citations MSHA has issued against the mine operator. Often, inspectors issue citations after the mine operator has already corrected the problem. Also, if an inspector doesn't issue citations while conducting an inspection, his supervisors consider him lax or wonder whether his inspection was thorough enough. Moreover, words such as "significant" and "substantial" are not carefully defined and rely for their interpretation on the judgement of individual inspectors. Mine operators know more than anyone else the importance of avoiding safety hazards; they know they can't make profits with unsafe mines.

{One cannot judge a mine's safety by counting the number of citations MSHA has issued against the mine operator.......Mine operators know more than anyone else the importance of avoiding safety hazards; they know they can't make profits with unsafe mines.}

Bull...

This is a fine article; a lot of work went into researching it. I've been researching as well. And this is what journalism is about! Mine operators are capitalists and capitalists operate on the premise of turning profits (the most as can be elicited) at the least amount of cost/overhead.

As for Stickler....since he is a recess appointment, his appointment runs out at the end of this year, 2007 - UNLESS approved by Congress. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) has a hold on his nomination and will not release the hold.

Remember this: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." Upton Sinclair (remember him?)

It's time to get back to our revolutionary roots in this country.

Will you show us every safety report and worker's comp claim related to the Newspaper Agency Corporation? The State of Utah, or Salt Lake City?
Selective outrage over safety issues is not Journalism, but propaganda. Mining is a VERY dangerous business, and responsibility for safety violations rests jointly with the very men who place their own lives in danger and the management, not exclusively with management. Nonetheless, loss of a single worker is a tragedy, and injured or killed rescuers is even more sad and regretable.

Kurt G should pay more attention to natural resource extraction and less attention to attacking Orrin Hatch. An open pit mine is much safer and much less expensive to operate than an underground mine. The main objection to the operation of open pit mines was the deplorable condition the eastern open pit miners left behind after the coal was extracted. Current environmental regulations require the area to be restored after the coal has been mined

This is a very well researched report of mining oversight in Utah. My only concern is that it is not made clear that MSHA itself is suspect because of political and corporate influence. Perhaps the News will cover that angle in a subsequent article. I can only shake my head about the people still defending the way Robert Murray has run his mines and Richard Stickler's shady past and through the back door appointment. Reform starts with facing the facts about what is wrong. Aiding a cover-up will not be helpful. Lives will be saved only if the industry and its overseers are held accountable.

I don't see any fine for unsafe mining. i.e. mining out support pillars. The computer simulations should be done to see if the mountain will pop the pillars. From the sounds of what happened here, fire, air and water were not the problems. The mine is blowing out the pillars.

Sutton Hoo is correct that one can not judge a mine's safety record, but its MSHA citations alone. The average American household would have multiple S&S violations.

If our nation is truly concerned about miner's safety, then we need to address one of the most critical concerns for the industry. The absolute lack of properly trained professionals. Currently the US can not train enough mining engineers and miners to replace those that are retiring, as a result the experience and technical ability required to maintain the safety of our mines is being lost. If mining safety is really a concern for the US we need to stop closing mining engineering schools and properly suppport them so that these professionals are available. Mining safety laws written by company and unions lawyer lobbying politicans will produce volumes of paper, that mandates ideals that can't be achieved. Properly trained engineers and miners will produce safe mines. Retreat mining methods, such as those used at the Crandall Canyon Mine, which require collapsing ground conditions need the constant attention of a well trained and experienced mining engineer with real knowledge of the mine and its unique geology