Back to Murray and the Crandall Canyon mine

[malaise]

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695215409,00.html
<snip>

Mining families deserve better treatment from the government in the wake of the Crandall Canyon Mine accident, senators said Tuesday as they discussed communication problems among federal agencies regulating the mine before the tragedy and management of information during the aftermath.

At a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, the committee's chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., wanted answers on why the Mine Safety and Health Administration allowed a mining plan to go through when there were problems at Crandall Canyon. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash, said she plans to introduce legislation to give better assistance to families in the event of another accident.

At least 30 family members representing eight of the nine people killed in the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse sat in the audience. They wore white ribbon loops secured to lapels and dresses with a pin of a pick ax crossed with a shovel and name tags showing their relationship to those who died in the accidents.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration and the United Mine Workers of America said late Tuesday that some Crandall Canyon miners have opted to designate the union as their representative in the accident investigation.

Although the Crandall Canyon Mine was a non-union mine, UMWA spokesman Phil Smith said the union agreed to serve as an "independent voice" for the workers as the investigation continues.

Edit headline

[malaise]

1. More links

http://www.mineweb.net/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page60?oid=37764&sn=Detail

http://news.google.com.jm/news?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&tab=wn&ncl=1121249648

[malaise]

2. BLM noted serious problems three years before collapse

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i0GGpBpcz_swaHeP5hdc4BHa8E2QD8S183000
<snip>
Bureau of Land Management inspectors noted serious structural problems at Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine at least three years before two roof collapses killed nine people in August, Congress was told Tuesday.

Yet the government's mine safety agency in another agency — the Labor Department — didn't know of the concerns about Crandall Canyon until after the accident, Kevin Stricklin, a coal mine safety and health administrator for Labor, told a Senate hearing on the accident.

The Labor Department had approved a plan to mine there.

"This is like the CIA not getting information from the FBI when we're getting attacked by terrorists," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., whose committee also is investigating the oversight by the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration of the mine and the accident response.

[malaise]

3. Murray knew all this when he was screaming Jesus and seismic event

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7059509
<snip>

The retreat mining plan was approved in February, and work progressed until March, when a major bump - where pressures in the mine cause coal to burst from the roof or pillars - significantly damaged the mine and prompted operators to abandon efforts to recover the pillars in the north barrier.
Stricklin says the bump was not officially reported to MSHA; the company maintains it didn't have to report the event. The MSHA investigation will consider whether the event should have been reported, Stricklin said.
Despite the problems retreat mining in the north barrier, when mine operators asked MSHA to approve a similar plan in the south barrier, it was quickly OK'd on June 15.
Robert Ferriter, director of the Mine Safety and Health Program at the Colorado School of Mines, said that, given the problems that were experienced in the north barrier and the similarities in the type of mining and conditions, "one could reasonably anticipate the occurrence of additional coal mine bumps.
"The risk was quite clear," Ferriter said in his prepared testimony.
Ferriter quotes several reports by a Bureau of Land Management inspector, noting deteriorating conditions, bumps and roof falls in the area being mined.

[malaise]

4. Kicking for the morning crowd n/t

[blondeatlast]

5. This story just sums up the agenda, corruption, and consequences of

the neoCon approach to government so well and is not getting the media play it should.

Murray is clearly not bright--it's unfair to single him out, but I want to see him (someone) pay for what Bush, Cheney, LLC have done to this country. They've bullied us, let's take on the wekest of their crowdand make SOMEONE, for once, pay the price.