Crandall Canyon Mine Disaster – 11 years later

AUGUST 7, 2007
Early Monday morning, a cave-in at the Crandall Canyon mine in Huntington Canyon which trapped six workers in the underground shafts.
At approximately 3:47 a.m. on Aug. 6, a call came into the Emery County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center reporting that an earthquake had occurred and the epicenter was in the vicinity of the UtahAmerican Energy Inc. mining operation in Crandall Canyon.
At approximately 3:51 a.m., the Crandall Canyon reported damage at the mine.
The earthquake was believed to have occurred 1,500 feet underground and approximately 5,000 feet south of where the six miners remained trapped late Monday afternoon.
SUN ADVOCATE
AUGUST 23, 2007
At 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 22, the fifth bore hole broke through into the Crandall Canyon mine.
United States Mine Health and Safety officials indicated that collecting oxygen samples and lowering a video camera along with audio equipment into the shaft would take several hours. Analyzing the data would require additional time to complete.
“We’re not going to recover dead bodies if it endangers the life of another human being. We have had nine heroes killed or injured Thursday night. We’re not going to do that anymore. But if we find somebody alive, which is very unlikely, then we will continue our rescue efforts,” commented Robert Murray during a press conference Wednesday morning.
SUN ADVOCATE
AUGUST 28, 2007
One hundred seventy coal miners were laid off during the weekend as UtahAmerican reported that the Tower division of the company’s Utah operation will undergo safety modification.
During a Sunday press conference at the Crandall Canyon command post, United States Mine Safety and Health Administration officials also announced that a seventh hole will be drilled from the mountain’s surface and a state of the art robot will be inserted into the mine in furtherance of the continuing rescue effort.
According to MSHA spokesperson Jack Kuzar, the safety administration has been working on developing a robot to search the mine since day one of the disaster on Aug. 6.
SUN ADVOCATE
SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
A tragic month that Castle Valley will never forget and a rescue effort that proved fatal and fruitless came to a close on Aug. 31.
During an evening press conference last Friday, United States Mine Safety and Health Administration official Rich Kulczewski reported to the media after meeting with the trapped miners’ families that all rescue efforts at Crandall Canyon had been exhausted and drilling would cease.
Reporting from all MSHA officials has been uniform.
“We have exhausted all known options in our attempt to reach these miners,” said MSHA administrator Richard Stickler.
SUN ADVOCATE