New Rescue Efforts Underway to Free Trapped Miners

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News

The ground inside the Crandall Canyon Mine has stopped shaking — for now.

“Overnight, mine officials report that the unexpected seismic and tectonic activities have diminished to the point that the company’s rescue efforts are now progressing at a more normal pace,” mine owner Bob Murray said in a statement to the Deseret Morning News this morning.

This afternoon, crews will try to go back into the mine and restabilize some of the mine shafts, using timber supports and chain link fencing to guard against any more cave-ins. Murray said they have to wait for the seismic activity underground to subside before proceeding.

The underground method is believed to be the fastest way to reach the miners. They are also trying to reach the men by drilling from outside the mine.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said this morning that drilling a vertical hole through a mountain to reach the miners has reached roughly 450 feet. It is moving at about 70 feet per hour, MSHA officials told the Deseret Morning News.

Murray Energy Corp., which owns the mine, said the drilling has temporarily stopped while casing is installed in the borehole to keep the walls intact, a standard practice in any drilling operation.

Two holes are being drilled. One is two inches in diameter. Another is 8 5/8-inches in size. Drilling on the nearly 9-inch hole has been difficult. Murray said in his statement that the severe slope of the mountainside is making it hard to set up the drilling rig.

“Notwithstanding these difficulties, UtahAmerican expects the larger rig to begin drilling Wednesday morning,” he said. “While the larger drill has experienced difficulty due to the steep terrain, the progress of the smaller drill has been good, and we are optimistic that both drills can make further progress today.”

Drilling through the mountain from the outside will only allow them to make a hole big enough to communicate and supply food and fresh air for the trapped men.

Overnight, crews were able to repair the ventilation system inside the Crandall Canyon Mine, restoring oxygen flow to parts of the coal mine.

Rescue teams today hope to use sonar equipment flown in by the U.S. Air Force to help determine if the six trapped miners are alive, though ongoing seismic activity will make that difficult. Dynamite charges will be set off at a safe distance from the believed location of the miners, who have been trained to bang on the roof of the mine in the event of a collapse.

“We are extremely concerned that the seismic activity we are experiencing now is making so much background noise that it might mask our ability to hear if the miners tap on the mine roof,” said Al Davis, a regional director for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Davis said crews will use the sonar equipment, hoping they can hear the miners over the interference.

It is unknown if the miners are alive or dead. They were in the middle of working a 12-hour shift early Monday when the mine shaft they were in collapsed in an event so powerful, it registered 3.9 on the Richter scale. Ten miners were inside the area at the time, four managed to escape.

President Bush calls

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. is on his way to Huntington again today to meet with mine officials, rescuers and the families of the trapped miners. This morning, President George W. Bush called to offer his support.

“President Bush called Utah Governor Jon Huntsman to continue to offer support from the federal government and to tell him that he was keeping the miners in his thoughts and prayers,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Federal mine personnel are coordinating the massive rescue effort, as well as meeting regularly with family members. The families of the miners have been sequestered, and access to them restricted by authorities.

Mine officials continue to update them frequently; a meeting is scheduled for this morning. Murray said he hopes to be able to deliver good news to them soon but fears “I may need to give them the opposite story.”

Both mine and federal officials have refused to release the miners’ names. Some are believed to be Mexican nationals, and Mexican Consul Salvador Jimenez was at the mine Tuesday.

“We want to verify information, every detail,” Jimenez said. “We have more than confidence. We are hopeful.”

In Huntington, signs went up around town showing support and solidarity for the missing men and their families. Huntington City Councilwoman Julie Jones’ son, Elam, is one of the rescuers.

“They’re doing what they can from all sides, even digging with their hands at times,” she said.

On Monday night, Jones said she hugged her son, who told her how he felt about it: “Mom, it’s scary.”

Robby Robertson, 27, a miner who has worked at Crandall Canyon, said a distant cousin of one of the trapped miners. He declined to identify him but said he’s very experienced.

“It’s every miner’s worst nightmare to be trapped,” Robertson said on the road to the mine entrance. “They know what to do as far as staying alive. I think they’ll be OK, if we can get to them in time.”

A Mass was held at a Huntington Catholic church Tuesday night for the miners and their families. Another Mass will be held tonight at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City.

Earthquake rumble

Murray insists an earthquake that lasted several minutes caused the mine collapse, and several aftershocks have plagued rescue efforts. However, scientists again said Tuesday night they believe it was the mine collapse that registered a 3.9 on the Richter scale.

“All the data suggests it’s a mine collapse,” said Rafael Abreu, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

Speaking to reporters earlier Tuesday, Murray angrily denounced the scientists’ assertion.

“This was caused by an earthquake,” he said. “It was a natural disaster.”

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations said it has not ruled out conclusively that an earthquake was not involved but said all of the seismic events appear to be consistent with a mine collapse.

MSHA officials said there will be an “exhaustive” investigation to determine what caused the collapse. On the scene, assistant U.S. Labor Secretary Richard Strickler would not speculate on the cause, or whether so-called “retreat” mining had anything to do with it.

“I assure you, by the end of that investigation, we will have the answer,” he said.

Murray Energy has said it was not conducting that type of mining, in which pillars holding up the roof of a mine shaft are pulled and it caves in. The leftover coal is then harvested.

MSHA officials in Washington, D.C., confirmed to the Deseret Morning News that the Crandall Canyon Mine had been conducting retreat mining. A plan filed by the mine was approved by federal authorities, said MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere.

“What we have emphasized is that as long as the roof control plan is followed, it can be a very safe method for mining,” she said.

Contributing: Suzanne Struglinski, Associated Press

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

(c) 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.