He made him ride in the heights of the earth
that he might eat the produce of the fields
He made him draw honey from the rock
and oil from the flinty rock
- Deuteronomy 32:13, from the song of Moses
On August 6, 2007, there was a massive cave in at the Crandall Coal Mine in Huntington, Utah.
Disaster Chronology, 8.16.07, to the present: http://www.sltrib.com/...
Names of the original lost six miners:
Kerry Allred
Brandon Phillips
Luis Hernandez
Manuel Sanchez
Don Erickson
Juan Carlos Payan
Name of 7th crew member who witnessed and survived the blast because he was temporarily working away from the group, Jameson Ward http://www.sltrib.com/...
On August 16, 10 days after the original disaster, 3 more would die during the rescue attempt to dig them out.
http://www.sltrib.com/...
The names of the dead rescuers:
Dale Black, 48, Huntington, husband and father of 2, mining exp 25 years
Gary Jensen, 48, Redmond, Inspector with the US Mine Safety & Health Admin, 34 years mining exp, also a EMT and youth sports coach
Brandon Kimber, 29, Price, 4 years mining exp, leaves 3 small children, ex wife Kristen, and girlfriend Christina Shumway .
Now we learn that one of the rescuers performed the ultimate sacrifice:
One Rescuer lost life protecting another, The Salt Lake Tribune, 8/19/07
http://www.sltrib.com/...
"At least one of the three men killed Thursday while engaged in rescue efforts at the Crandall Canyon mine apparently died while protecting a co-worker from more severe injuries.
Kristin Kimber, 29-year-old Brandon Kimber's ex-wife, said the mother-in-law of an as-yet unnamed young man who survived Thursday's violent explosion of coal inside the mine told Brandon's family he pushed his fellow miner back and lay on top of him when debris came flying to protect him from being crushed.
"It was a simple act of love and generosity. He put himself in harm's way to protect this young man. We are very honored and proud of him," Kristin Kimber said. "He died saving someone else . . . that makes things a little easier for us." "
agate, tourmaline, coal, and candle
Sunday Afternoon, Aug 19, The Salt Lake Tribune/ Mine Official: We may not find the trapped workers
http://origin.sltrib.com/...
HUNTINGTON - After a camera lowered through a fourth bore hole again showed no signs of six workers trapped in the Crandall Canyon mine, officials on Sunday acknowledged what many had already feared.
"It's likely that these miners may not be found," Rob Moore, vice president of mine owner Utah Energy Corp*, said during a Sunday afternoon news conference.
Video from the latest bore hole drilled from the top of the mine into caverns below showed extensive damage to that area of the mine, and oxygen levels measured at 7 or 8 percent - not enough to support life.
*In an interesting bit of Public Relations damage control spin, they don't seem to be using the phrase Murray Mining Corporation now during these press meetings.
Sunday Evening, Aug 19, The Families Speak Publically For the First Time http://www.sltrib.com/...
Families of miners question why rescue capsule wasn't used
In the statement, read by Price attorney Sonney Olsen, the families said the refusal to drill a large hole and use a rescue capsule from the beginning to bring up the miners has endangered their loved ones as well as rescue teams trying to clear debris from the collapsed mine.
"We feel they have given up and are waiting for the six miners to expire," Olsen said.
Rob Moore ( refered to previously as Vice President of the mine owner Utah Energy Corporation, but in other news reports as VP of Murray Energy Corp) gave a telephone interview after the press conference, calling the idea not practical.
Moore said the company told families Sunday morning that the large hole would be attempted only if there were signs any of the missing six are alive.
Moore confirmed Bob Murray has not visited with the families of the missing six since Thursday. Moore said Murray has been attending to the needs of the three men who died and the six who were injured on Thursday.
Sunday afternoon, Aug 19, 1:05 pm, Salt Lake Tribune/ Mine Disaster: Still no sign from below http://www.sltrib.com/...
Rescuers making noise at the mine Saturday have elicited no response, not hearing anything in 4 hours of microphone listening afterwards. A 5th borehole is planned in a new area about 600 feet from where the miners were believed to be working, but the 2nd collapse at the mine thursday, which killed 3 more and injured 6, has led MSHA to suspend indefinitely any more tunneling and debris clearing rescue attempts.
quote from Saturday evening:
"Make no mistake about it. This continues to be a rescue effort," said Moore, who has replaced Murray Corp. chief executive Bob Murray as the mine's spokesman.
Murray, Moore said, is now focusing on the rescue effort and "ministering" to the families of the trapped miners - and those of three miners killed and six others injured in a major mine wall collapse Thursday during rescue efforts.
•• This is what seems to contradict Moore's assertion that this is a rescue attempt:
Moore said Saturday night that the company has on standby two drills capable of making a 30-inch borehole - a process that could take two weeks or more. One of those drills is in Utah, he said.
It would take a hole that big to drop in an enclosed capsule that could carry a man to the surface of the mountain.
In some news reports, Rob Moore is also not only referred to as the VP, but the Chief Financial Officer of Utah Energy Corporation.
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http://www.nytimes.com/...
Facing the Multiple Risks of Newer, Deeper Mines NY Times, 8.16.07
" ...mining at extreme depth in Utah, where mine-produced tremors are common, creates a tapestry of forces that adds to mining’s inherent hazards.
First, the six men were working at a depth of more than 1,800 feet, which engineers say is where coal approaches its structural load-bearing maximum. Second, the coal itself, carved into large pillars within the mine, was essentially what held up the weight of the mountain above Crandall Canyon, near Huntington. Third, retreat mining involves removing or reducing the size of those pillars to extract as much coal as possible. Seismic jolts — called bumps or bounces in the language of miners — are often caused by compression of coal pillars and are most common in the deepest mines, like Crandall, where the pillars hold the most weight.
Seven of Utah’s 10 operating mines, including Crandall Canyon, take miners to depths of 1,600 to 2,000 feet below the surface, said James Kohler, chief of the solid minerals branch of the federal Bureau of Land Management in Utah, which monitors mines on its lands. An eighth Utah mine is set to push through 1,800 feet in the next few years.
The days of easy, shallow coal are gone, Mr. Kohler said: “By necessity, we’re going deeper.”
Utah produces aprox. 25 to 26 million tons of coal annually, about twice as much as 2 decades ago. Last year there were 52 siesmic events that were mining related, according to the article.
Immediately following the disaster, Bob Murray, a principle owner of the mine, insisted that the collapse of the mine's interior was an act of nature caused by an earthquake, and that only God knew whether or not the miners were dead.
Humans and their incredible petroleum fueled boring machines can now cause earthquakes, but it remains extremely controversial in many theological circles whether or not that actually makes them a Diety.
The Lord said, Death, I am, the destroyer of the worlds, who has come to annihilate everyone.
- Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita
5 hours after I started researching this:
Hope All But Extinguished at Utah Mine
http://news.yahoo.com/...
The challenge of tunneling to the trapped miners is daunting. No support system can withstand the explosive force of a mountain bump because those forces are nearly impossible to predict, Stickler said. Once one coal pillar collapses, the weight it had carried gets transferred to adjacent coal pillars, setting off a chain reaction.
"The mountain continues to be active, continues to move," (Richard) Stickler (head of the Mine Safety & Health Admin) said Sunday. "As the weight causes pillar failures in one area of the mine, then that weight is shifted to adjacent pillars and that process seems to be migrating out from the original area where the bump activity started."
If tunneling doesn't restart, part of the mine will have been turned into a tomb. Despite that, (Rob) Moore said there is recoverable coal in other parts of the 5,000-acre mine, and the company expected to resume operations at some point. He said he didn't discuss that prospect with family members.
The President remains on vacation in Crawford, Texas, but the curse of each August continues.
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edit to correct #tons of coal produced in Utah annually.
photo by diary author. rocks from diary spouse