Criminal acts in Crandall Canyon?
The Tribune's Mike Gorrell does a excellent job of pulling together the controversy over events leading to the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster in August that killed six miners and three would-be rescuers.A mining consultant studying maps before the disaster, circled areas of concern and noted: "Dangerous?" and "Danger?"
Four months later, the mine collapsed in the places he had indicated, trapping the six miners who remain entombed in the mountain.
Now, the Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is calling for criminal prosecutions.Yet in the nine months that have followed the disaster, the political will to improve mining regulation has disappeared like the television satellite trucks in Crandall Canyon after the rescue was abandoned.
Phil Smith, the spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, says it's the historic frustration of miners:
"To us, mine worker safety is a front-burner issue every single day. It is somewhat frustrating that it takes people getting killed, not just in one's and two's — which happens all too frequently — but in bunches for there to be attention paid to this"Utah's Sen. Orrin Hatch, certainly isn't trying to light a fire under anyone. "We need to ensure we have all the facts before enacting additional mine-safety regulations that may not address the real problems or prescribe the right solutions."
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