Finally, the blame comes forth.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/31/mine.collapse/index.htmlWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal safety officials were negligent in their approval of work plans for a Utah coal mine that collapsed in August 2007, leaving nine dead, a Labor Department report concluded Monday.
The report does not reach conclusions about the cause of the collapse at the Crandall Canyon mine, which killed six miners and three would-be rescuers. But it found officials of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration could not demonstrate the agency did "everything appropriate" to protect workers when it approved a plan for the risky mining technique used at the site.
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"MSHA's actions and inactions, taken as a whole, lead us to conclude that
lacked care and attention in fulfilling its responsibilities to protect miners," the Labor Department inspector general's office reported
"MSHA could not show how it analyzed roof control plans, the criteria it measured the plans against, the rationale for approving the plans, that the plans were properly implemented or that the plans continued to protect miners over time. These deficiencies evidence the agency's serious and systemic lack of diligence in protecting miners, and we do not believe it is misleading to use the term 'negligent.' "
more at link