Reader comments
Handling of Utah disaster may determine mine bureaucrat's future

It appears to me that there needs to be an exhaustive investigation into the Crandall Mining incident and in order to do so it will require as much information as possible as to what happened in order to determine whether or not Mr. Stickler has been an appropriate administrator. As I've mentioned it once, I'll mention it again, the federal government needs to be able to physical examine first hand the evidence of the mining tragedy and in order to do this will be necessary to conduct a physical examination of the miners involved in the accident and a physical examination of the actual mining site, the existing mining construction, and geological formations and condition where the accident occurred. One way or another, physical entrance and contact with these miners dead or alive is essential for the future security and appropriate mining safety of miners of the future.

Mining is a very dangerous job and these accidents will continue to happen no matter how much MSHA regulates. When you have people working underground with heavy equipment, dust, dirt, water, electricity, shifting landscape, etc. disasters are going to happen from time to time. MSHA could regulate every mine out of business...if they are too tough, no one has a job and every mine has to shut down. I don't think anyone wants that.

I don't see how blame gets shifted to Stickler here and away from the mine owner. Sticklers handling of the rescue may not be perfect, but probably didn't change the fact that those men likely died immediately.

Also, last I checked, this a free country with a government that allows freedom of expression. MSHA has no authority to limit the mine owner's freedom of speech. This just seems like a lot of finger pointing at the guy at the top who had nothing to do with anything that happened in the initial collapse.

Richard Stickler is "heckuva job Brownie 2". His reputation is so checkered that Bush could not get him confirmed and had to sneak him in a "recess appointment".
Robert Murray put profit before safety.

I look forward to the day, I hope sooner than later, that coal mining is obsolete because coal power plants are obsolete. Burning coal is stone age technology, and wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, biomass, etc etc etc are the technologies we need to be pursuing.. this IS the 21st century.
Stop apologizing for the bad guys, and start fighting for the good guys.

Everyone likes to point shake and rattle the finger when something like this happens. I do not blame Murray. Mining is dangerous and miners are paid well perhaps not proportionately for the hazard. In any event, the miners knew the dangers.

Saying not to blame Murray is like saying I do not blame those contractors responsible for the explosion of the space shuttle or not blaming those corporations making cars that exploded on impact or I do not blame those who authorized the break-in in Watergate because politicians know the risks or I do not blame the drug companies increasing the price of drugs out of reach of most Americans because we have a freemarket or I do not blame the corporate executives of Enron or Qwest for their mismanagement because it is business afterall and the employees are free to look for another job. By being unseeing to cause and effect, possible deliberate knowing of the actual unacceptable, reckless risk and pushing regulators to backoff could be considered murder in some peoples minds.

I'm weary of the notion that all accidents can be avoided through regulation and blame. Mining is an inherently dangerous vocation. Miners know this and they're compensated accordingly. You can't legislate and regulate to avoid all accidents, but you can legislate and regulate a degree of safety that will put an end to all domestic underground mining. Save a dozen lives, kill ten thousand jobs.

What a shame that some people feel like
"any job at any price" is necessary today. Owe your soul to the company store.

I guess I am foolish and think we can do better than nineteenth century social darwinism.

I went through a methane ignition back in the 80's that killed three burned 5 and about 12 of us got out unscathed. The three dead... were three missing for several days. The Feds took control and the Rescue squads and us (I was a union committeeman) entered the mine and began recovery (re-establishing ventilation) pillar by pillar in search of the three missing. It took several days to get to the bodies. The rescue squads worked ahead on air tanks putting in canvas stoppings and we followed behind making everthing more permanent and lugging the supplies to the rescue squad. Family members were at a sight about three miles away. At the rescue site reporters could get down the driveway (By signing in at a checkpoint)and as far as the parking lot. They couldn't get in the bath house, lamp room or near the shaft. All public press conferances were run by the Feds in the same building as family members with a union Rep present and a company Rep present. All family mambers were free to sit in or talk to any of us privatly during the recovery. Utah, to me sounds like a circus. You have an industry appointee by Bush that could not get congress to approve his appointment and an Idiot mineowner who has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bush and the GOP running the show. These missing guys are non-union and at least half are mexican citizens who may not have been in the U.S.legally. I don't believe under these circumstances we'll ever get the real truth!