Panel to Consider Stronger Regulation of Utah Mines

[billyoc]

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 24 — In the shadows of the Utah mountain where six miners were entombed and three rescue workers killed last month, a new mine safety commission will convene in Huntington on Tuesday.

The commission, created by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. after last month’s collapse at the Crandall Canyon Mine, is expected to hear testimony from mine operators and those who live in the tight-knit surrounding towns, many of them coal miners whose relatives have toiled underground for generations.

The advent of the commission, which is meeting for the second time, is a sign that Utah is considering a greater role in regulating its 13 coal mines after 30 years of deferring to the federal government.

After Congress passed legislation in 1977 that led to the creation of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, Utah began to disband its own mine inspection program. Other more prominent mining states, like West Virginia and Kentucky, continue to oversee their mines, while the federal agency ensures they abide by federal law.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/us/25mine.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[shain from kane]

1. Has Bob Murray been appointed to the Utah Energy Task Force? n/t