Vol. 71/Supplement      August 2007

The cave-in happened at 2:48 a.m. on August 6. No communication has been established with the men, who are 3.4 miles from the mine entrance and 1,500 feet underground. As much as 2,000 feet of rock and debris are blocking rescue efforts.

The mine, also known in the area as Genwal, is located in Huntington Canyon.

In addition to Sánchez, trapped miners include Kerry Allred, Luis Hernández, Brandon Phillips, Carlos Payán, and Don Erickson. Four other miners escaped.

Miners say the company is pressuring them not to talk to anyone about what happened. Murray Energy Corp. CEO Robert Murray confirmed this at a press conference today.

But Sánchez’s family is speaking out. “Why are they telling us not to speak to the press?” asked María Sánchez, his sister. “What are they afraid of?”

A Crandall Canyon miner who had worked the shift before the collapse occurred told the Militant that the company had been “retreat mining.” He asked to remain anonymous.

Retreat mining is considered among the most dangerous mining methods. In this procedure, after an area is mined, workers take out the last bits of coal from the pillars that hold up the roof. This causes the roof to cave in.

The company denies they were retreat mining at the time of the collapse.

“This was caused by an earthquake,” Murray insists. “It was a natural disaster.” But scientists disagree.

“[A]ll of the available evidence indicates that the mine collapse itself was the earthquake,” Lee Siegel, a University of Utah science news specialist, told the Associated Press.

Siegel also said that in Utah’s recorded history, an earthquake has never triggered a mine collapse or a cave-in. “However, there have been numerous cases where the collapse was recorded as an earthquake,” he said.

“If seismic activity may have instantly killed them, that is in the hands of the Lord,” Murray said at a press conference yesterday.

“Murray has shown that he does not care about the miners and their families,” said María Sánchez. She said he walked out of a meeting earlier today briefing the family members on the rescue effort after they began to express frustration with the company’s approach. “There was no translation for the Spanish-speaking families,” she added. Three of the trapped miners are from Mexico.

The men’s families are being sequestered at Canyon View Junior High School in Huntington. The entire building has now been leased by Murray Energy. The Emery County sheriff’s department and company are restricting access to relatives.

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) inspectors issued 325 safety violations against Crandall Canyon since January 2004. Last month, inspectors cited them for not having at least two separate emergency escapeways.

It was the third time in less than two years the mine was cited for the same violation. Last year’s fine was just $60.

The conditions at Crandall Canyon are not substantially different from other mines in the area, according to miners.

From 2005 to 2006, Ved Dookhun worked at Crandall Canyon’s sister mine, Tower, outside of Price, Utah. “They were always concerned with just getting out as much coal as they could,” he said in an interview. In 2006, a longwall operator was killed at that mine when a large piece of coal struck him in the face after an explosion. “Production didn’t stop even when the shifts were changing.

“If you were injured, you’d lose your safety bonus, so a lot of workers just didn’t report injuries,” added Dookhun.

All but one of the 10 active mines in Utah are nonunion.

“In a nonunion operation, you’re restricted in what you can do to reinforce safety,” Bob Butero, Region 4 director of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), said in an interview today. “Under a UMWA contract, a miner has the right to remove yourself from the danger.”

Alyson Kennedy and Peter Brandli contributed to this article.  
 
 
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