"Why did it take two hours for MSHA to be notified - two hours?" Byrd thundered to an official with the Mine Safety and Health Administration in a hearing weeks after the tragedy. "And then why did it take six hours for rescue teams to arrive? Why is the rapid notification and response system not available? Shouldn't that mine have been closed with all those citations, all the breaking and wearing down and tearing down and easing the regulations? Why, why?"
But the tone was decidedly different last month when Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah questioned an MSHA official after the deaths of nine miners at the Crandall Canyon mine.
"Can you please just run through the major events that you oversaw upon arriving in Utah?" Hatch politely asked, almost teeing up an answer for the director of the agency charged with mine safety - which he has praised repeatedly for its quick response.
And so it goes. In the aftermath of the Utah mine disaster, several members of Congress have been prying for details of why the miners were killed, but members of Utah's federal delegation haven't been leading the charge.
Sens. Byrd, Edward Kennedy and Patty Murray along with Rep. George Miller of California have lobbed the tough questions at government officials and requested loads of documents. Four members of Utah's five-person delegation have participated in the hearings on the Utah tragedy, but only two have asked questions - and only one was critical of MSHA's actions at the mine site.
"I do think that the Utah delegation was easier on MSHA than I would have expected, especially when there are definitely flaws in the system," says Ellen Smith, owner and editor of Mine Safety and Health News, who has followed the hearings.
Smith adds that it's probably a mix of politics and personality - Hatch is not as intense as Byrd can be, for example - and also the fact that the delegation spent time on the ground at Crandall Canyon so they may not have as many questions.
Either way, the questioning from Utah's members has been tepid compared to other members of Congress in probing the Utah mine disaster that initially claimed six miners in an Aug. 6 cave-in and three would-be rescuers 10 days later. The six miners remain entombed in the mine in Emery County.
To be fair, Utah's delegation has sponsored a resolution honoring the fallen miners and also co-written letters urging Labor Department officials to work cooperatively with a state panel investigating the disaster. But critical questions about the tragedy - what led to it, how it happened and what could have been done to prevent it - have been mainly left to non-Utah representatives.
During a House hearing on the mine disaster, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, said he had a list of "questions" about how communications were handled between government officials and the families, about how the mine plan was approved and about whether miners who had expressed concern about the mine's safety had a venue to express those fears. But Matheson didn't ask any of them.
"I think that this panel of witnesses has done a remarkable job in laying out those issues," Matheson said. "I didn't really have a series of questions to ask this panel, Mr. Chairman, but I want to thank them for their genuine honesty, and I want to thank them for taking time to come here today, and I think we're all honored by their presence."
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, didn't ask any questions during his time at that hearing either. The hearing featured the families of the mine disaster victims, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a union official and a mine industry representative - though it did not include any representatives of the MSHA or the Labor Department.
"This is a significant issue for all of us, and I appreciate the testimony that's being heard, and, hopefully, we'll be able to continue this communication as time goes on with some specific answers to some of the specific questions that were raised earlier today," Bishop said at the hearing, yielding to questions that had already been asked.
Rep. Chris Cannon, Utah's other Republican House member, does not sit on any of the committees probing the disaster and hasn't participated in any of the hearings. But Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, did quiz the head of MSHA, Richard Stickler, about why the Utah mine had been cited but not yet fined by the federal agency.
Stickler responded that it depends whether the mine operator had asked for a conference on the violation and how long it takes to schedule that meeting.
"All right, but is it normal for something of this nature to go on for nine months or 10 months or a year?" Bennett asked, yielding a response that seven months is unusual but not unheard of.
Pressing further, Bennett asked Stickler why rescue operations continued after Bennett had been told they would cease because of safety hazards. Stickler responded that one type of rescue operation was halted but another continued because experts on the ground believed it was safe.
Hatch disputes criticism that he's gone easy on federal officials after the disaster. He said he has been "as active on this issue as possible because it is so important to Utah," and has pledged to work together with other lawmakers and agencies in a "bipartisan, nonpolitical fashion" to ensure the tragedy is thoroughly investigated.
"I think people are quick to judge when you have a disaster like this, but as far as I can see from Mr. Stickler and others, they were using the best technology they could have," Hatch said Friday. "What I don't want is people getting extreme on this so we stop mining in Utah. There are very good jobs and they support a lot of people in Emery and Carbon counties."
As for Matheson, he pointed out that the committee hearing was focused on allowing the families of the fallen miners to have a voice and was not an investigative hearing. He says it was an appropriate and necessary first step and there will be time for tough questions later.
"I'll continue to press for answers on behalf of the families and the coal mining community," Matheson said. "I want to know if mistakes were made, how they can be corrected in the future, so that safety in Utah's coal mines can be enhanced and what - if anything - needs to be done at the federal level to avoid future tragedy."
tburr@sltrib.com
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* ROBERT GEHRKE contributed to this story.
Orrin the interrogator?
The following exchange between Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, is an example of the questioning by Utah's delegation during one of the Crandall Canyon mine hearings before a congressional committee.
* HATCH: Mr. Stickler, if I recall this correctly, between 1992 - and there were seismic events around there - but between 1992 and this tragedy, there were a limited number of bumps with small injuries, but there weren't any major injuries. Am I correct on that?
* STICKLER: That's correct.
* HATCH: If I recall correctly, there were only about eight bumps in the mine itself.
* STICKLER: Right. That's right. The majority of those that resulted in injury occurred on long wall mining sections.
* HATCH: And this was not a long wall.
* STICKLER: That's correct.
* HATCH: I see. Now, I know that you and your team responded quite quickly to the events regarding the Crandall Canyon mine. Can you please just run through the major events that you oversaw upon arriving in Utah?
* STICKLER: Well, like you said, I believe MSHA did respond very quickly.
* HATCH: Right.
