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May
13
Following months of negotiations, all of the parties in the civil lawsuits stemming from the disaster reached a settlement, the parties said Tuesday. Terms were not disclosed, but lawyers for the families said it exceeded the more than $20 million paid to families of 27 victims of a 1984 explosion and fire at the closed Wilberg mine in the same Utah coal district.
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In an e-mail to the Deseret News, Kevin Anderson, attorney for UtahAmerican Energy Inc., parent company of the mine operator, Genwal Resources Inc., said “no one is going to claim victory here, given the events that brought us to this point.”
“Yet I can also say that our clients are pleased to have these matters resolved at this time, in the manner and for the amount resolved, and to put the accidents in the past.”
Genwal Resources is a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp., based in Pepper Pike, Ohio.
Quick re-cap of what happened:
Four other companies linked to the mine’s operation were part of the settlement, plus six insurance companies and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The other companies were two other Murray Energy affiliates that operated and held the lease on the Crandall Canyon mine, mining consultants Agapito Associates Inc. of Grand Junction, Colo., and mine co-owner Intermountain Power Agency.
On Aug. 6, 2007, six miners — Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Hernandez, Carlos Payan, Brandon Phillips and Arturo “Manuel” Sanchez — were trapped when an area of the Crandall Canyon coal mine collapsed near Huntington in Emery County. Days later, three rescuers — Dale Black, Gary Jensen and Brandon Kimber — were killed and several others were injured while trying to reach the trapped miners.
The bodies of those trapped inside were never recovered, and the mine was later permanently shuttered.
The article indicates that an investigation led by U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman is still underway regarding whether there could be criminal charges.
He said at the time that he was still looking deeper for evidence that could be brought before a grand jury. The possible evidence includes allegations by federal regulators — vigorously denied by the company — that mine managers misrepresented early warning signs of danger at the central Utah mine.
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By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:34 am May 13th, 2009 in Business, Cleveland+, coal, Energy, Ethics, Government, Ohio, Pepper Pike, Politics, Utilities
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If I could only tell you some of the Murray horror stories I’ve heard…
The man should be in jail.