The Crandall Canyon Mine, formerly Genwal Mine, is an underground bituminous coal mine in northwestern Emery County, Utah. On Monday, August 6, 2007, at 2:48 A.M. MDT), the mine collapsed, trapping six workers inside.

Location

The Crandall Canyon Mine with its entrance at an elevation of 7,385 feet (2,251 m), resides in Emery County, Utah, about 15 miles (24 km) west north-west of Huntington. The mine is located within Crandall Canyon in the Wasatch Plateau Coal Field. The permit area for the mine covers an area of more than 5,000 acres (2,023 ha) utilizing fee land, federal, and state leases. The Manti-La Sal National Forest surrounds the mine. The mine conducts surface operations on 10 acres (4 ha) of disturbed land within the forest.

Ownership and operation

The mine is owned by UtahAmerican Energy, Inc. (formerly Andalex Resources), a company with approximately US$65.1 million in annual sales, headquartered in Sandy, Utah. UtahAmerican is a subsidiary of Cleveland, Ohio based Murray Energy Corporation, owned by Robert E. Murray. The mine, located just off Utah State Route 31, is about 34 miles (55 km) southeast of Fairview, and 140 miles (225 km) south of Salt Lake City. The Crandall Canyon mine is operated by Genwal Resources Inc., an operating division of UtahAmerican.

History

Mining was conducted at the site from November 1939 to September 1955 using a room and pillar method. The Genwal Coal Company resumed mining there in 1983. At that time the mine produced between 100,000 and 230,000 tons (91,000 t - 209,000 t) of coal each year. NEICO purchased the mine in 1989 and the next year IPA purchased 50% interest. By 1991, a continuous haulage system was used helping production surge to 1 to 1.5 million tons (900,000 t - 1,400,000 t) each year.

Genwal Resources, Inc. acquired the mine in March 1995 and a longwall was installed the same year into the mine. The installation of the longwall nearly doubled the capacity of the mine. A new longwall was purchased two years later which increased the capacity further to 3.5 million tons (3,175,000 t) per year. To handle the increased capacity, a new loadout facility was built at the mine. Additional federal leases were expected to extend the life of the mine and new portals on its south side were slated to be installed to expand access options.

Safety concerns

In 2006 the mine had been cited for several safety violations, including lacking the required number of escape routes. In addition, a practice called retreat mining was common at the mine. Normally miners leave large columns of coal in order to support the mine entry. This is known as room and pillar mining, because the extraction of material literally creates a 'room' while leaving occasional pillars of coal to support the ceiling. Retreat mining involved going back to the original entrance, taking out some of the pillars, which allows the roof to settle.

Collapse

On Monday, August 6, 2007, at 2:48 A.M. (MST), the mine collapsed, trapping six workers inside. The workers are thought to be: Kerry Allred (50), Luis Hernandez (23), Brandon Phillips (24), Carlos Payan (20s), Manuel Sanchez (41), and Erickson (50). The workers are believed to be approximately about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the mine entrance and 1500 feet (457 m) underground. The collapse registered recorded seismic waves in magnitude 3.9 to 4.0, by seismograph stations of the University of Utah.

Disaster response

At 9:47 PM MST Thursday August 9, 2007, a drill bit boring a 2.5 inch (6.3 cm) hole over 1,800 feet into the presumed location of the trapped miners finally reached its destination. The hole was fitted with a steel pipe to allow air samples to be recovered and a microphone to be lowered, which reached the cavity location underground early Friday morning on August 10. The microphone recorded no sounds of human activity, but the crude air sample analysis from underground initially determined that the atmosphere was hospitable for life, with a sampling consisting of 20.5% oxygen, some carbon monoxide, and no traces of methane. The analysis did not, however, reveal the presence of carbon dioxide, which would have signaled a fair to good chance that the miners were still alive and breathing. Subsequent air samples, though, showed oxygen levels near 7%, at near fatal levels for human life. Initially, the subsequent sampling was thought to be consistent with a neighboring sealed-offed mine cavity, and that the drill bit simply drifted off course, but it was later confirmed that it did actually reach its targeted destination. Seemingly, the initial findings of 20.5% oxygen levels were from the bore hole itself, and not the actual mine cavity. Concurrently, another task is taking place, involving the creation of a 9 inch (22 cm) hole to the supposed underground location of the miners. This shaft would allow the delivery of food, water, and a powerful camera to scope the site. This shaft has reached the mine shaft early Saturday August 11. See Wikipedia, Crandall Canyon Mine.

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