Washington – Federal safety officials should have known that Utah’s Crandall Canyon Mine was unsafe and closed it before two cave-ins killed nine people, a union leader told senators Wednesday.
“This mining plan should never have been approved,” Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, told a Senate subcommittee that oversees the budget of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
“There should have been a much closer look at this,” he said of the nonunion mine.
But MSHA chief Richard Stickler defended the agency, saying his inspectors and several outside engineers carefully evaluated the mining plan and believed it was safe.
Several congressional panels are investigating the Aug. 6 collapse and subsequent cave-in, and lawmakers are expected to consider whether new safety laws are needed.
Six miners are presumed dead, entombed 1,500 feet below ground. Three rescuers, including an MSHA inspector, were killed Aug. 16 while trying to tunnel to the men. The search was called off Friday.
Both cave-ins are believed to have been caused by a “bump,” or spontaneous explosion from the mine roof or wall, caused by pressure from the mountain above. Bumps are common in Utah’s deep mines.
Roberts and Davitt McAteer, who headed MSHA in the Clinton administration, said the Crandall Canyon Mine was particularly prone to bumps because the operators were mining using a common but dangerous technique that puts extreme pressure on the roof.
A bump in March caused the operators to abandon a section of the mine.
Stickler told senators that he didn’t learn of the bump until after the accident. He said MSHA will investigate whether the mine operators should have reported the incident.
