The Crandall Canyon Mine, formerly Genwal Mine, was a bituminous underground coal mine in northwestern Emery County, Utah, United States. The mine made headline news when six miners were trapped by a collapse in August 2007. Ten days later, three rescue workers were killed by a subsequent collapse. The six miners were later declared dead and their bodies were never recovered.
Location and geography The Crandall Canyon Mine is located at (39.460000°, -111.167639°) with its entrance at an elevation of .
The mine is located in Emery County, Utah, in the Wasatch plateau coal field. The mine is located about south of Salt Lake City, southeast of Fairview, and about west-northwest of Huntington. The mine is located in Crandall Canyon about west of its junction with the main highway road, State Route 31, which runs through Huntington Canyon.
The Manti-La Sal National Forest surrounds the mine. The mine conducts surface operations on of disturbed land within the forest. The permit area for the mine covers an area of more than utilizing fee land, federal, and state leases.
The topography in the vicinity of the mine is generally mountainous with peaks reaching above within a radius from the mine's entrance. An unnamed peak three miles west at the head of both Crandall Canyon and Blind Canyon is at elevation . Mill Fork Peak, located about south of the mine's entrance, is at elevation . A ridge line north of the mine entrance reaches elevations above . That is an offset of about 1,400 vertical feet (427 m) above the mine's entrance in the canyon below.
Ownership and operation The mine is co-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. "Bob" Murray.UtahAmerican @ Manta.comUtahAmerican @ Hoovers The Crandall Canyon mine is operated by Genwal Resources Inc., an operating division of UtahAmerican. The other co-owner is the Intermountain Power Agency (IPA) of South Jordan, Utah. On July 24, 2008, the U.S. government announced its highest penalty for coal mine safety violations against Genwal Resources, $1.64 million, for the 2007 collapse.
History
Mining was conducted at the site from November 1939 to September 1955 using a room and pillar method.State of Utah (2007, July 31). Crandall Canyon Mine. Retrieved August 10, 2007, from http://ogm.utah.gov/coal/mines/C015032.htm The Genwal Coal Company resumed mining there in 1983. At that time the mine produced between 100,000 and 230,000 tons (91,000–209,000 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 (900,000–1,400,000 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. Mine owners had informed the state of Utah they planned to close the mine in 2008.
Safety concerns In 2006, the mine was cited for several safety violations, including lacking the required number of escape routes. Murray said that the safety violations were trivial and included violations such as not having enough toilet paper in the restroom."Murray's Illinois mine has 2,787 violations since 2005" . The Salt Lake Tribune Retrieved on August 10, 2007. In addition, a practice referred to as retreat mining was being conducted in some portions of the mine in which the coal had been removed by room and pillar method. The extraction of material literally creates a 'room' while the ceiling is supported by the 'pillars' of coal that remain. Retreat mining refers to the common practice of removing the pillars while retreating back towards the mine entrance.
On March 10, 2007, the north barrier pillar suffered from a rock burst, in which pressure causes material from the walls and ceiling to explode inward into the excavated spaces. No miners were injured and all equipment was recovered from the affected area, but the partial collapse closed off that area and forced the mine to instead extract coal that had a higher ash content. The company depended on the low-ash coal to meet its contractual obligations, however, so on March 21 a meeting was held in which it was decided to return to the south barrier pillar. This pillar was adjacent to the north barrier pillar. The March 10 event was never officially reported to MSHA, as required by law. Robert Murray claimed to be unaware of the incident but minutes of the March 21 meeting, released in January 2008, revealed that he had in fact known about it.
Mining accidents
Initial collapse A mining accident took place on Monday, August 6, 2007, at 2:48a.m. MDT. The mine collapsed, trapping six workers: Kerry Allred (58), Luis Hernandez (23), Brandon Phillips (24), Carlos Payan (22), Manuel Sanchez (41), and Don Erickson (50). The workers were believed to be approximately from the mine entrance and underground. Seismic waves from the "coal mine bump" (collapse) were reported as magnitude 3.9 to 4.0 by seismograph stations in Utah and Nevada. Initial reports questioned whether the collapse was triggered by an earthquake, but subsequent research proved the seismic readings were due to the collapse."Seismic Moment Tensor Report for the 06 Aug 2007, M3.9 Seismic event in central Utah" @ U.C. Berkeley Seismological Laboratory Additional seismic activities were recorded in the days following the event."6 miners trapped in Utah coal mine collapse" @ CNN.com "Six miners trapped after Utah coal mine collapses" @ Yahoo! News"Utah mine owner: Efforts to reach the miners will take at least three days" @ from AP at Yahoo! News Mine Collapse Not Caused By Earthquake @ KUTV.com
Disaster response Rescue teams were dispatched immediately to assess the damage to the mine and begin clearing rubble to reach the cavity. The process of clearing the rubble and reinforcing the passageways to the cavity was estimated to last between two and six weeks, but additional seismic activity and safety concerns introduced further delays."Seismic Activities 'Totally Shut Down' Rescue Efforts" @ KSL.com
At 9:47pm MDT Thursday August 9, 2007, a drill bit boring a hole over into the presumed location of the trapped miners reached its targeted destination.ABC News: "Drill Reaches Miners' Presumed Location" 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.FoxNews.com Drill Reaches Level of Trapped Utah Miners; No Sound Heard The analysis did not, however, reveal the presence of carbon dioxide, which would be expected if the miners were still alive and breathing. Subsequent air samples, though, showed oxygen levels near 7%, at near fatal levels for human life."Drill hole may have missed miners, federal officials say" — CNN.com Initially, the subsequent sampling was thought to be consistent with a neighboring sealed-off mine cavity, and that the drill bit had simply drifted off course, but it was later confirmed that it actually did reach its targeted destination. Seemingly, the initial findings of 20.5% oxygen levels were from the bore hole itself, instead of the actual mine cavity."Second Drill Bit Heads Toward Trapped Miners" — ABC News
A concurrent rescue effort involved the creation of a hole. The target was another possible location of the miners at the time of the collapse. This shaft would have allowed the delivery of food, water, and a powerful teleoperated robotic camera to scope the site.Robot-Assisted Rescuers Seek Answers in Wake of Utah Mine Collapse" — ScientificAmerican.com It reached the mine shaft early Saturday, August 11."Second drill reaches collapsed Utah mine shaft" — ABC News Australia The aforementioned robotic camera was lowered into the collapsed coal mine from the shaft, and revealed typical mining equipment but not the six missing miners, according to a federal official speaking on Sunday, August 12, 2007.
Poor lighting allowed the camera only to see about into a void at the bottom of the drill hole, far less than the it is normally capable of seeing, said Richard Stickler, Chief of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
A third bore hole was started on the evening of Sunday, August 12. The target was a ventilation area near the back of the mine. Miners are trained to go to these areas in the event that other escape routes are inaccessible. The bore hole was completed mid-day on Wednesday, August 15."Third Drill Hole Could Be Completed Tonight" — KSL.com Initial equipment was unable to fit through a bend in the bore hole.
Shortly before 7:00pm MDT on August 15, 2007, vibrations were reported to have been detected within the mine."Rescuers say noises heard in mine, drilling increases" — CNN.com These vibrations, heard by geophones lowered into the borehole, had a duration of around five minutes, but could easily have been an animal or even a rock crumbling, said Stickler. This sound activity caused a major rethinking in the proposed location of the fourth hole that was under consideration."Mysterious Noises Offer Hope for Miners" — ABC News The fourth hole was redirected to target the noises detected in the mine about 3/4 of the distance to the third hole, roughly beyond the initial holes.News report image of approximate bore hole targets — KSL News The first two bore holes targeted the approximate location of the miners at the time of the collapse. The third bore hole targeted a ventilation area about beyond the first two holes.
On mid-day August 16, 2007, eleven days after the collapse, underground rescue teams were less than halfway through the rubble to the suspected location of the miners. Continued bursting of tunnel walls damaged digging equipment and required additional structural reinforcement for the safety of the crew. In the 24 hours between the August 15th and 16th reports, digging teams were only able to advance about . They had advanced into the rubble and estimated still remained."Miners to Begin Drilling Fourth Hole" — KSL News
Second collapse and suspension of underground rescue efforts Later on August 16, 2007, at about 6:30pm MDT, the mine collapsed again when one of the walls of the tunnel exploded outwards, killing three rescue workers and injuring six others.Foy, Paul. "3 Rescue Workers Killed at Utah Mine." Associated Press. 08.17.07.Frosch, Dan. and Lee Jennifer 8. "Rescue Halted at Mine After 3 Deaths and 6 Injuries" The New York Times. August 17, 2007. All rescue workers were pulled from the mine, and it was not known whether rescue efforts underground for the trapped miners would continue. The three rescuers killed were Dale "Bird" Black (49), Brandon Kimber (29), and Gary Jensen (53)."Crandall Canyon Mine Memorial". Karen Job Templeton. Retrieved on August 5, 2012. Jensen was an inspector for MSHA.Monforton, Celeste. "Still no day in court for worker safety violations at Crandall Canyon coal mine". Retrieved on August 5, 2012.