Miners get place to speak out
Safety is the focus of hearing, along with viability of industry
Both miners and residents took full advantage.
The eight-member panel heard from numerous presenters during the all-day session, including mining professionals with years of experience working in and around Utah coal mines. Local miners and citizens alike expressed their gratitude for allowing them the chance to speak out.
Lee Cratsenburg, a coal miner for 19 years, lost a relative in the Aug. 6 Crandall Canyon Mine collapse. She openly questioned whether the mine company followed proper safety standards.
"If the regulations would have been met at Crandall Canyon, I don't think the lives would have been lost that we did lose," she said. "Anytime coal becomes king, regulations seem to go under the rug."
Cratsenburg implored the commission to somehow ensure mine operators strictly adhere to safety standards, saying she wouldn't hesitate to sign up to go back into the mines if she knew they were less dangerous.
Two men who identified themselves as longtime miners suggested the panel talk to the mechanics and engineers who construct the safety walls and roof supports inside the mines. Getting their input might offer some helpful insights on how best to prevent future disasters, they said.
"As you look at some of the laws we've got, you can see how some of them are kind of ridiculous," Oviatt said.
He added the commission should try to look for ways to enhance safety without putting too many restraints on mine operators so their businesses can remain viable. He said focusing on enforcement of already existing laws is one way to improve safety.
"We need to make sure that rules and regulations are what we can look upon as something that all individuals involved feel like they need to follow and need to obey," he said.
Echoing his sentiments were members of the Emery County Board of Commissioners. Board chairman Drew Sitterud said safety is their utmost concern, too, but said any action must be based on common sense. He told the Mine Safety Commission to do whatever it could to make mining safer but not to put regulations on top of regulations that would cripple the industry.
Sitterud said one of the things that concerns him is the emotional response resulting from the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. He told the panel not to allow that emotion to cloud their judgment.
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