Thursday, May 08, 2008
Utah Mine Disaster Was Preventable, Report Says - New York Times
Utah Mine Disaster Was Preventable, Report Says - New York Times: "“It is quite possible that, had Mine Safety and Health Administration known the full severity of the March bump, M.S.H.A. would not have approved the subsequent development and retreat mining of the South Barrier,” the report said.
This conclusion about the cause of the disaster contradicts Robert E. Murray, the chief executive of the Murray Energy Corporation, which owns and operates the mine. Mr. Murray has adamantly insisted that the initial fatalities were not foreseeable because the collapse was caused by an earthquake rather than by mining operations.
Federal mining officials, who have publicly expressed skepticism that an earthquake caused the collapse, are due to release their own investigation report in June."
What we all suspected as we watched that guy say and do extraordinarily strange things. The one thing that made me question him most was when Bob Murray questioned the geologists who were clear that no earthquake had occurred. These are the people we immediately want to hear from after the ground shakes. If they say no earthquake, most of us tend to believe them. When he was so adamant as to their mistake, I thought we had a major problem on our hands. He was also so self-interested while his people were irretrievably trapped. This is something that as we watch, we question how in the world he could be so detached. Apparently, that detachment was natural for him, or at least a long pattern.
This conclusion about the cause of the disaster contradicts Robert E. Murray, the chief executive of the Murray Energy Corporation, which owns and operates the mine. Mr. Murray has adamantly insisted that the initial fatalities were not foreseeable because the collapse was caused by an earthquake rather than by mining operations.
Federal mining officials, who have publicly expressed skepticism that an earthquake caused the collapse, are due to release their own investigation report in June."
What we all suspected as we watched that guy say and do extraordinarily strange things. The one thing that made me question him most was when Bob Murray questioned the geologists who were clear that no earthquake had occurred. These are the people we immediately want to hear from after the ground shakes. If they say no earthquake, most of us tend to believe them. When he was so adamant as to their mistake, I thought we had a major problem on our hands. He was also so self-interested while his people were irretrievably trapped. This is something that as we watch, we question how in the world he could be so detached. Apparently, that detachment was natural for him, or at least a long pattern.
