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Company Blamed In Coal Mine Collapse

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The Associated Press

Published: August 7, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY - The collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine one year ago was so extensive, federal officials found no other mining disaster in the past 50 years to compare to it.

Hundreds of coal pillars, overloaded by aggressive mining that carved out too many voids, collapsed within seconds on Aug. 6, 2007, entombing six miners nearly half a mile underground.
Satellite radar images show that a 69-acre section of the mine caved in - the equivalent of 63 football fields without the end zones.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration said the mine was "destined to fail" because the mining company made critical miscalculations and didn't report early warning signs.

But MSHA also was faulted by its parent agency, both for lax oversight before the collapse and for its handling of a haphazard rescue effort that left three more people dead.

Regulators acknowledge the rescue tunneling should never have been attempted because it only made the mine more unstable.

Relatives say they now know the mine company and federal regulators failed the miners.

"The disappointment I have is knowing they'll never be able to get those boys out," said Frank Allred, the older brother of Kerry Allred, a ram-car operator and one of the trapped miners.

"I see those bodies in that black hole totally covered in coal," he said.

On Wednesday, family members marked the anniversary of the cave-in by dedicating a circle of nine tombstones commissioned by mine boss Bob Murray in a serene spot of Crandall Canyon.

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