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Monday, March 10, 2008

Crandall Canyon Report Details Industry Pressure, Regulatory Lapses

Sen. Ted Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has released a report on the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. The collapse occurred in August 2007, trapping and killing six miners. Days later, three workers were killed during a rescue attempt.

The 75-page report contains lots of interesting yet disappointing information about Murray Energy, the mine's owner, and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. One of the most disturbing is that MSHA disregarded the opinion of one of its analysts when it approved Murray Energy's plan to conduct retreat mining at Crandall Canyon.

Federal law requires MSHA approve plans for retreat mining — the controversial technique in which miners remove support pillars in order to intentionally collapse areas of the mine no longer in use.

The report says MSHA engineer Pete Del Duca reviewed Murray Energy's plan for Crandall Canyon and recommended MSHA officials reject it. The head of MSHA's district office for the area signed-off on the recommendation and notified the mine's manager.

After MSHA sent the letter, one of Del Duca's superiors, Billy Owens, met with a representative from Murray Energy. "After this conversation, Owens told Del Duca that his analysis was flawed in several respects." Del Duca told Kennedy's committee that no one asked him to reevaluate the retreat mining plan. Del Duca's analysis had been dismissed.

According to the report, "Del Duca's analysis was prescient." A mine collapse in March and the deadly collapse in August both occurred "beyond the points Del Duca predicted would be safe."

The Kennedy report and investigation exhibits can be downloaded here. The discussion of the Del Duca analysis begins on page 36.