Three workers killed, six injured in Utah coal-mine rescue effort

All So You Can Have Cheap Electricity

Three rescue workers were killed and at least six others injured when a section of Utah's Crandall Canyon coal mine caved in Thursday night. The workers were involved in the nine-day effort to reach six miners trapped deep within the mine. Seismic activity has caused the operation to halt several times; a seismic "bump" caused the latest collapse. The injured included two officials from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. "The seismic activity underground has just been relentless," said Bob Murray, head of Murray Energy Corp., which co-owns the mine. "The mountain is still alive, the mountain is still moving, and we cannot endanger the rescue workers as we drive toward these trapped miners." As of last night, all rescue workers had been evacuated and the operation put on hold. "It's a devastating blow to what was already a tragic situation," said Joe Piccolo, the mayor of nearby Price. "It's a very stressful part of the way of life that's been known here for years."

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Nicholas Riccardi, 17 Aug 2007

straight to the source: Forbes, Associated Press, Paul Foy, 17 Aug 2007

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Comments: (5 comments)

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Forbes v. LA Times...

I enjoy receiving Grist news daily, but [of course], I have a problem with today's Utah coal mine email with an excerpt from the Forbes piece:
"The seismic activity underground has just been relentless," said Bob Murray, head of Murray Energy Corp., which co-owns the mine. "The mountain is still alive, the mountain is still moving, and we cannot endanger the rescue workers as we drive toward these trapped miners."
Murray continues to try blaming the Earth for this event, while all preliminary scientific evidence says otherwise. The quote you extracted was from the Forbes piece; notice the LA Times didn't take the bait and refused to allow the mine owner to imply again that a natural earthquake is to blame for the originating event and now current events.

by snowyowl at 10:03 AM on 17 Aug 2007

don't get too high and mighty

This entire mine collapse catastrophe has been extremely tragic for all those involved. I respect Grist and the content you publish, but seriously, "All So YOU Can Have Cheap Electricity?!" I am pretty sure you guys aren't using a bike (a la Gilligan's Island) to power the computers you used to research, write, and communicate this.

I think that was a tasteless and arrogant choice of headlines, and in the words of the most trustworthy tv pundit, Stephen Colbert, "that deserves a wag of my finger."

Otherwise, keep up the good work.

by jeffrossini at 10:05 AM on 17 Aug 2007

Time for New Power Source

This double tragedy is all the more reason why we need to wean off coal in the very near future. However, nuclear power probably is NOT our best option.

Just today, AP reporter Beth Rucker filed a story about the heatwave in the south and midwest being responsible for dozens of heat-related deaths...which will only increase as the temperatures rise due to global warming. Here's what caught my attention:

"The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public utility, shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Athens, Alabama, on Thursday because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90 F average over 24 hours.

"We don't believe we've ever shut down a nuclear unit because of river temperature," said John Moulton, spokesman for the Knoxville-based utility.

The shutdown posed no safety threat, but it came as TVA hit records for power consumption in the last two weeks in its service area covering most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

The utility will compensate for the loss of power by buying it elsewhere."

Clearly, it's time to get serious about safe, sustainable energy sources.

by ivy hill at 11:51 AM on 17 Aug 2007

cheap electricity

We here in Arkansas are being 'fined' by FERC for not paying our 'fair' share of a bungled nuclear power plant in Mississippi of whose power we do not use. Since Entergy 'owns' our utility, we are being charged for all the mismanagement, cost overruns, and boondoggles that this company has accomplished since buyng out our local utility company. Our legislature sued all the way to the Supreme Court and were told we had to pay since Entergy covered 4 states and Arkansas was one of those states. Entergy, if you decide not to pay this unarmed robbery, can cancel your service and refuse to let you back on the grid. Don't you just love the Bush administration and all those Democrats that work so 'bipartisanly' with them?

by Jumperl at 2:06 PM on 17 Aug 2007

coal mine

We have been through Price and Helper many times. I have been to the coal museum in Helper, where the trains used to add a 'helper' locomotive to get over Soldier's Summit.

In 1998 I rented a car and drove through Price and Helper. When I got to the bottom of the canyon I noticed a black vein in the rock where they blasted through to widen the road. I parked my car and found some black shiny rock on the side of the road. It was native coal.

I believe all coal mines should be unionized! If a miner reports a safety violation in a unionized mine operations are shut down until it is fixed. If a violation is reported in a non-union mine the worker is told to keep his mouth shut or lose his job.

Boycott all nonunion coal!

by danielbarker123 at 2:22 PM on 17 Aug 2007

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