Mining News
Crandall Canyon 2007 Disaster Lawsuits Settled
In May 2009, lawsuits filed by the families affected by the 2007 cave- ins were settled with the owner and operator of Utah's Crandall Canyon mine. The families were seeking restitution for the injuries and loss of life sustained in the two rock breaches.
The settlement is the largest in Utah mining history. The documents were endorsed by attorneys for the defendants and the families of the 12 men who were killed or injured.
On August 6, 2007, six miners were trapped by a horrendous collapse at Crandall Canyon. Only ten days later, another collapse killed three rescuers, including a federal mining inspector, and injured three others.
The terms of the settlement have been kept private. However, lawyers representing the families say it was far more than the $20 million paid to families of 27 victims of a 1984 explosion and fire at the Wilberg Mine in the same area of the Utah coal district.
Jason W. Harden, a lawyer for Ohio-based Murray Energy Corporation, a subsidiary of Utah American Energy Incorporated would say only that the said the settlement “resolved costly and challenging technical issues and heads off an expensive trial. The geomechanics of coal mining under a mountain are extremely complex and difficult to assess.”
Five other companies involved in the operation of the mine as well as six insurance companies were represented in the settlement.
The list of mining related companies involved:
- Two additional Murray Energy affiliates that operated and held the lease on the Crandall Canyon mine;
- Mining consultants Agapito Associates Inc. of Grand Junction, Colorado.
- Mine co-owner Intermountain Power Agency;
- And, its major partner? The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
China Mine Blast kills 75 miners, injures more than 114
A deadly gas explosion in a coal mine in northern China on Sunday, February 22, 2009 killed more than 75 miners and sent at least 114 miners to hospital while dozens more were trapped in the mine. Officials would not say how many were still underground but reports coming out of the region said at least 65 miners remained trapped. This was China’s deadliest coal mine accident in more than a year.
China's mines are the some of the most dangerous in the world, accounting for more than 3,000 deaths a year from mine explosions, fires and floods.
Early on Sunday morning, the mine ignited with a gas explosion while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
The news agency reported six of the wounded are in critical condition among the 114 workers hospitalized. At least 75 miners died, Xinhua stated although it did not give a number of miners still underground following the initial rescue effort.
A rescuer told state television that some areas of the mine are full of carbon monoxide hampering rescue efforts in those sectors. Carbon monoxide is a colorless odorless gas that is highly toxic and exposure to it can lead to death.
Xue Huancheng was one of the hospitalized miners who told Xinhua that he recalled being ordered to evacuate because the ventilation system had broken. "At that time power supply underground was cut off and we had to walk," said the injured miner. He says he fainted after walking for 40 minutes to the mine’s exit.
A State Administration of Work Safety duty officer who gave only give her surname, Zhang, reported that the cause of the explosion was under investigation.
Xinhua News said Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao told the rescuers to spare no effort in trying to reach the trapped miners. The rescue team of 80 people was involved in the search for survivors.
Carbon monoxide poisoning is thought to be the main injury suffered by those hospitalized, Xinhua said according to doctors at a nearby hospital.
State television showed scenes of rescuers in orange suits and red helmets with headlamps. They were using an elevator to get into the mine shaft. Meanwhile, rescue personnel emerged from the mine carrying injured workers on stretchers to ambulances.
The mine is owned by Shanxi Coking Coal Group, the biggest producer of coking coal in China. The coal is used in the manufacturing of steel. The Shanxi Group has 28 mines in China.
The Tunlan mine is known to be one of the best mining operations in the country with no major accidents in the past five years. The mine produces 5 million tons of coking coal a year.
In December, 2007 a coal mining accident resulted in 105 deaths at a mine in Linfen city in Shanxi province. According to the State Administration of Work Safety, the Linfen explosion was caused by an accumulation of gas in an unventilated tunnel.
Although government has long said it plans to improve mine safety, so far proper safety programs are hit and miss in the massive coal industry where huge producers compete with much smaller mine operations. China depends on coal for most of its power and as that country continues to grow the need for energy also continues to grow.
China’s mining industry is the world's deadliest accounting for about 3,200 deaths from coal mining accidents last year; that represents a 15% decrease from the year before.
Even though China’s mine safety record is notoriously poor, statistically state-run mines tend to have safety records more in line with those of fully developed countries. Smaller mines have little or no safety equipment and inadequate worker training. Over 1,000 dangerous small mines were closed last year.
There are about 16,000 mines in China and 80% of those are small, illegal operations.
