
Last August the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah collapsed, killing six coal miners. Ten days later, three men sent to rescue the trapped miners died in a second cave-in. A Congressman has asked the U.S. Attorney for Utah to conduct a criminal investigation into whether the mine’s general manager “willfully misled” federal officials.
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller of California asked prosecutors to determine if the general manager “covered up” conditions in the mine that could have warned federal inspectors of potential dangers. In particular, Miller said the mine manager did not report a significant damage from a mine collapse, or “bump,” in March
Mine management at Crandall “may have purposefully misled MSHA about the severity of the March bump fearing MSHA would close the mine, and [they] continued to adhere to the mischaracterization after the August incidents in an effort to downplay the foreseeability of the August incident,” Miller’s report said.