Report faults mining methods in Utah mine collapse

By Associated Press Friday, July 25, 2008 - Updated 5m ago PRICE, Utah - The operator of a collapsed Utah mine violated safety protocols by cutting coal pillars that should have been left standing to prevent cave-ins, federal regulators said yesterday. The officials said a subsidiary of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp. undermined other pillars by excavating coal from tunnel floors. They also faulted the company’s engineering firm, Agapito Associates Inc. of Grand Junction, Colo., for conducting a flawed evaluation of mining dangers. Murray Energy chief Bob Murray has insisted that taking down the pillars, a practice called retreat mining, had nothing to do with the collapse. He argued from the start that it was caused by an earthquake. At a news conference yesterday, Mine Safety and Health Administration chief Richard Stickler... [read full story]