Weak pillars, dangerous areas linked to Utah deaths
CNN Jul 25, 08 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The federal government has socked a Utah mine operator and its consultant with the highest fine ever—$1.85 million—for safety violations in a mine collapse that killed six men last year. Investigators said weak pillar support and work in dangerous areas of the Crandell Canyon mine led to the disaster. The mine operator was charged $1.34 million “for violations that directly contributed to the deaths,” as well as $300,000 in other penalties.
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One rep blasts Feds, calls Utah collapse 'preventable'
CNN Oct 3, 07 7:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Families of 6 dead miners expressed anger and heartbreak to lawmakers today, blaming lax safety for the Utah mine collapse. Relatives said miners were afraid to speak up and continued working until the August 2 collapse. One lawmaker blasted a mining safety agency and called the incident a "preventable tragedy," CNN reports.
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More about:
Crandall Canyon
'We've done all we can do,' expert says after camera fails
CNN Sep 1, 07 3:48 AM CDT
(Newser)
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"We've exhausted the options that we know about." That's how mine experts put it to an attorney for the trapped Utah miners' families yesterday, CNN reports. A camera lowered through a borehole into the collapsed mine at the Candall Canyon site yesterday failed to produce useful information when it got stuck in the mud as it searched debris on the mine floor.
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But device should work in normal conditions
Salt Lake Tribune Aug 28, 07 12:11 PM CDT
(Newser)
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An 8-inch robotic camera’s descent down a 1,415-foot borehole in the collapsed Crandall Canyon Mine was cut short yesterday by several hours of steady rain, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The weather blocked positioning of equipment needed to drop the camera, as well as preparations for a seventh borehole, in the search for the miners who have now been trapped for more than two weeks.
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Camera could reach shaft bottom by this afternoon
Salt Lake Tribune Aug 27, 07 5:17 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Reversing an earlier decision, recovery efforts will continue at the Utah mine where six miners were trapped three weeks ago. A seventh hole will be drilled into the mine, and a camera will be dropped into a previously bored hole to search for signs of life. Family members requested that the new hole be drilled to the kitchen area, where the men were supposed to congregate in an emergency.
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Associated Press Aug 25, 07 9:45 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The last hole drilled into the collapsed Utah mine where six men are trapped yielded no hopeful sign today; the space it reached was too small to support the men, a lawyer for some of the families told the press. "The only thing they told us is there is no void where the sixth hole is; there is no space," he told the AP after a meeting with mine officials.
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Company decides
to close mine permanently
Los Angeles Times Aug 23, 07 3:55 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Workers will bore a final hole in a bid to locate six miners lost in a Utah mine, but if that fails, the operation will be halted and the mine closed as a kind of memorial tomb, the owner said yesterday. "We're not going to risk more live people to get dead bodies," said Bob Murray. Three rescue workers died in a collapse last week.
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With fate of missing miners still uncertain, economic issues surface
New York Times Aug 22, 07 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Days after three more deaths ended efforts to rescue trapped miners, Crandall Canyon’s operators are talking about reopening the Utah mine—to mixed reaction from families and townspeople, according to the Times. Some wonder how the area is safe for mining but not for continuing recovery operations; others point to the mine's crucial place in the local economy.
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Miners' bodies may never be recovered
Salt Lake Tribune Aug 21, 07 7:05 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The trapped Utah miners are most likely dead, and their bodies may never be recovered, mine owner Robert Murray acknowledged to bereaved family members last night. Following the death of three rescuers—and a report from mining experts concluding that further attempts would be an unacceptable risk—underground rescue efforts have been suspended indefinitely.
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Salt Lake Tribune Aug 17, 07 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The search for the six men trapped in a collapsed Utah mine for the last 12 days has been halted indefinitely after a seismic "bump" at 6:39 PM yesterday caused a second cave-in, killing three rescuers, injuring six, and highlighting that the Crandall Canyon mine remains fraught with danger.
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Community reels as seismic jolt triggers new accident
New York Times Aug 17, 07 12:53 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Three men have died and six were injured in another collapse at a Utah mine where the team was working to save six trapped miners, reports the New York Times . "It's a devastating blow to what was already a tragic situation," said the local mayor. The accident yesterday evening was caused by seismic shaking that has plagued the rescue operation.
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CNN Aug 16, 07 9:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
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At least nine rescuers at the Utah mine where six miners were trapped last week are injured after seismic activity may have caused another cave-in, CNN reports. Six or more ambulances and two helicopters rushed to the Crandall Canyon mine tonight to transport the wounded rescuers to the hospital.
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Crews start drilling toward unknown sound
Deseret News (Salt Lake) Aug 15, 07 10:46 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Rescuers digging for men who have been trapped underground for 10 days heard noise inside the mine today, prompting crews to drill a fourth hole in the sound's direction. They described hearing 5 minutes of “noise” through seismic geophones, ignighting some hope in an otherwise-discouraging rescue effort. "There's a very good chance we may find them alive," said the mine owner.
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Found out via text message
Associated Press Aug 13, 07 10:53 AM CDT
(Newser)
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One of the four miners who escaped the Crandall Canyon collapse that trapped six men told the AP he didn't hear or feel the cave-in as it was occurring. Tim Curtis, who was near the mine's entrance at the time, heard of the collapse via text message on an personal emergency device. "It's just like you are here and three miles away are you going to hear a balloon pop?" he says.
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Poorly lit video spies equipment but no sign of missing miners
Washington Post Aug 12, 07 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Mine officials will drill a third hole to locate six Utah miners trapped for close to a week, the AP reports. A video camera with poor lighting was lowered into a hole yesterday and found mining equipment, but no sign of the miners. Still, rescuers said they were treating the mission as a rescue and not as a recovery effort.
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It's geologists vs. mine owner on cause of Utah disaster
Los Angeles Times Aug 8, 07 5:19 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A cave-in method of coal extraction called “retreat mining,” recently okayed by regulators for Crandall Canyon, was more likely to have caused the Utah mine disaster than an earthquake, seismographers tell the Los Angeles Times . And they say the massive tremor was consistent with the type “induced by underground coal mining.” It “just doesn’t look like a natural event,” one says.
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