Huntsman said Thursday that he will make his case with department officials and Congress in Washington next week. The governor is seeking a level of access comparable to what West Virginia's commission had following the Sago mine disaster.

The Labor Department wrote Commission Chairman Scott Matheson on Wednesday, denying access to the Mine Safety and Health Administration's investigation into the August collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine that killed six miners and three rescuers.

"I think there ought to be a much closer working relationship between what MSHA and the state safety commission [are] doing," Huntsman said during his monthly KUED news conference. "That isn't working for whatever reason, and that is against certain assurances I had early on that we would be working collaboratively."

Huntsman said he would send a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao seeking greater cooperation and would raise the issue when he testifies before the House Education and Labor Committee.

The House committee also will hear from Cesar Sanchez, Steve Allred, Cody Allred, Sheila Phillips and Wendy Black, family members of six of the miners who were killed at the Crandall Canyon mine.

Matheson said he understands the department's concerns, but it is unfortunate that it has been unwilling to share information, "and that puts a roadblock in our ability to do our work."

He said he was disappointed that the feds chose to send a letter rebuffing the commission, rather than discussing the matter further, and he disagreed with their characterizing the inquiry as a "law enforcement investigation."

"I understand, based on [my] experience, that there are different kinds of investigations, and this certainly is not the equivalent of a law enforcement investigation such as one that would be conducted by a U.S. attorney's office," said Matheson, who is a former U.S. attorney. "The letter reads like they're the Department of Justice, rather than MSHA."

J. Davitt McAteer, the former MSHA director who headed Gov. Joe Machin's commission after the Sago disaster, said the circumstances in West Virginia were somewhat different.

McAteer, under West Virginia law, was the state's representative in the MSHA investigation. During public meetings, he was able to brief other commissioners on general issues the investigators were considering, but did not discuss specific testimony.

"I think there's a valuable role the commission could play, because the agencies are taking a snapshot in time, and they're really looking at the culpability under the statute," McAteer said. "The public citizens' committee is really looking at the issue of how do you prevent these things from happening in the future."

The state has a representative on the investigative team - Utah Labor Commissioner Sherrie Hayashi - who Huntsman said would help shape state policy in the future, but she is bound by a confidentiality agreement not to disclose any information.

"How does that advance the state's interest if she is not able, or no one for that matter is able, to bring pertinent information to bear on recommendations that will be made to the state on how to improve mine safety?" Matheson said.

In its letter, the Labor Department assured the commission it would share interview transcripts after the investigation is complete - likely in about a year - but Matheson said the commission feels some urgency to move more quickly.

"I don't think safety should wait," he said. "If there are some meaningful proposals we can make, we'd rather make them sooner rather than later."

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* GLEN WARCHOL contributed to this story.