ANONYMOUS SOURCE: Miners concerned about safety where collapse occurred; complaints meant job loss [View All]

CNN: Source: Miners concerned about safety where collapse occurred


A truck delivers fencing Friday to be used in the effort to find six men trapped in a Utah coal mine.

HUNTINGTON, Utah (CNN) -- Some of the miners at Utah's Crandall Canyon mine -- including one of the men trapped by Monday's cave-in -- apparently were concerned about working in the area of the collapse, a source told CNN. The source, who requested anonymity, said the six trapped miners were working in an area called 7 Belt -- the deepest part of the mine. The floors in that part of the mine had been "heaving," or buckling up, from intense pressure in recent weeks, said the source, who has intimate knowledge of the conditions in the mine. Supervisors at the mine knew of the problem, he said.

Several miners --reportedly including Manuel Sanchez, who is among the trapped men -- were becoming apprehensive, the source said. A member of Sanchez's family told a Utah newspaper that he had expressed concern about safety in one part of the mine. The mine's operator said he was not aware of the safety concerns.

"I've never heard that," Bob Murray, president and CEO of Murray Energy, told CNN's Ted Rowlands when asked why someone would have been worried about that section of the mine. "I have no idea. It's probably a rumor, and I'm not going to respond to rumors."...

Asked why they did not complain about their safety concerns, several miners said complaining means the loss of a job. Murray denied that. "If you're getting that from the community, then those miners must work for another mining company. I don't operate that way," he said. Not so, said Paul Riddle, who used to work in one of Murray's mines. "Always profits before safety, that's my opinion, my feeling, my experience," he said.

Miners who work for Murray are sometimes forced to push the envelope when it comes to safety, he said, and are afraid to speak up for fear of being fired. "I'm not the only one," he said. "There are many, many people that feel this way and are afraid to speak up."...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/10/mine.utah/index.html