Retreat Mining: What to do with a played out mine. Pure profit for the owner.

[Stinky The Clown]

Retreat mining is what they were doing at Crandall Canyon.



From the UMWA website - a better explanation

This is a dangerous practice. No doubt about it. It is banned in several states. The United Mine Workers term it a matter of pure profit for the owners, however, since it both closes the mine and maximizes the coal taken from the mine.

Murray the Coal Guy bought the Crandall Canyon Mine about a year ago. The mine is slated to close in 2008. They were retreat mining, by order of the despicable Murray the Coal Guy (King of Fines, by the way, in his many other mines). This whole mess is the result of a greedy man making his workers risk their lives for his personal benefit. It appears to be the tale of a greedy man buying a played out mine for pennies on the dollar and then running an operation at the edge of the law, relying on bought and paid for politicians and regulators to save his worthless, sorry ass. A modern day Ebeneezer Scrooge with a decidedly demonic bent.

Murray the Coal Guy is exactly the kind of man for which unions were invented.

Promises Made, Promises Broken - Exposing the Real Robert Murray

[tularetom]

1. I have reconsidered my position on the death penalty

and FWIW I believe bob murray is a great candidate. This whole "rescue mission" was an attempt on his part to deflect blame for the original collapse which as you point out occurred due to greed on his part.

Fair trial? Nah, we all know he's guilty.

I say let's go get a rope now.

And throw that MSHA guy strickler in jail for the rest of his life. This shit happened on his watch and partially because he did not enforce the regs that congress adopted in the wake of the Sago mine collapse.

[AlCzervik]

2. Murray is just like Bush imo.

[az chela]

3. This guy is a total prick ,not to mention murderer

[madrchsod]

4. a guy on msnbc said that the pillars in the collasped area may have been

not wide enough to handle the roof...this will be buried in some report.

[DeSwiss]

5. He is but one facet of the many ugly faces....

...of the Republican Party. He epitomizes what they are. The so-called moral and upright among us.

Oh thee of "family values." Where is thy god now?

This guy is evil:

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6605040">Operators at the Crandall Canyon mine experienced serious structural problems in the mine in March and entirely abandoned work in an area about 900 feet from where six miners remained trapped Saturday.

A memo obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune shows that mine owners were trying to work around "poor roof conditions" before halting mining of the northern tunnels in early March after a "large bump occurred . . . resulting in heavy damage" in those tunnels.

And it could happen at any of his other mines, at anytime:

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_6589559">Crandall Canyon mine owner Robert Murray is fond of saying he cares deeply for his workers and "takes their safety to bed every night." But his record at one Illinois mine in particular might cause some lost sleep.

Murray's Galatia mine in southern Illinois racked up at least 2,787 violations and more than $2.4 million in proposed fines from the Mine Safety and Health Administration over a two-year span, according to government records. That includes more than $1.4 million in proposed fines already this year. (Murray routinely challenges government fines and many are now on appeal. He has paid $588,000 and is delinquent on $116,000.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1577582


- What a jewel....

K&R!!!

[Stinky The Clown]

6. $2.4 Million is walking arond money for that fucking rodent.

Why are fines for this sort of thing so low?

The fines should be percentages of income and they should HURT.

Fines should also extend to individuals (pierce the corporate veil) where evil is in the equation.

Fines should be a way to kick his ass out of the business. Make the fines follow him, not stay with the mine.

[DeSwiss]

7. The fines are low....

...because of the money he contributes to crooked politicians. Period. Particularly the coal-state ones. The mine owners (or their corporations), own most of east Tennessee, and between them and the chemical factories, they've polluted the air and water in the Smokies and the Knoxville area. So I've seen it up close.

And you're right, these guys have a catastorphe like this happen and can walk away from the corporation they created, scott-free. People grumble for a while, the press ignores them. Lawyers sue, families try to piece themselves together. The issue doesn't come up again, until the next time it happens. Its totally fucked up.

- As if we didn't already have enough reasons to go to renewable energy....