But the barbs apparently were sharpened in private.

A letter from Murray to Huntsman dated Wednesday accuses Huntsman of putting 700 Utah jobs at risk and disparaging Murray and the entire mining community.

"I cannot maintain [the mining jobs] alone," Murray wrote in the "personal and confidential" letter, "and I definitely cannot do it if I am going to be your whipping boy."

Murray insisted the Aug. 6 mine collapse was "totally unforeseen by anyone." He said he'd asked federal mine inspectors to investigate his three Utah mines before the governor did on Tuesday.

"I need help in maintaining the safety of our miners and in actually maintaining their jobs," Murray wrote on Murray Energy Corp. letterhead and apparently faxed to the governor that night. "If you think for one minute that I want to jeopardize the life of one miner, you are not the man that our employees and I have respected."

Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelly, who released the letter Friday, said the governor would not respond.

"He is focused on the future, and he's focused on ensuring safety and closure," she said. "The governor has no reason to engage in personal attacks."

The letter apparently came after the governor called on the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to perform thorough investigations of all three Murray mines in Utah, including Crandall Canyon, where a collapse trapped six miners Aug. 6. Murray accused the governor of "playing politics" with the request.

Murray was particularly irked by a news report that quoted the governor saying, "Futhermore, if it takes every dollar this guy has in his bank account, he needs to bring closure to this darn thing."

In his letter, Murray told the governor he should call him "Mr. Murray," as his employees do, rather than "this guy." He also took Huntsman to task for saying "every dollar" should be spent to address the Crandall Canyon cave-ins and noted that the company is "worrying" about its finances in Utah and throughout the entire Ohio-based company.

According to estimates Murray's company provided to the Utah Geological Survey last spring, Murray's mines at Crandall Canyon, West Ridge and Aberdeen were expected to employ 530 people this year, about one-fourth of the state's total coal-mining work force.

On Friday morning, Huntsman attended the funeral of Brandon Kimber, a 29-year-old father of three and one of three men who died in an Aug. 16 cave-in during an underground rescue attempt of the trapped miners.

A day earlier, only hours after Murray sent his letter, Huntsman announced plans for a new state commission to look at mine safety in the state. Among the possibilities the panel will explore is whether the state should take back some of the mine safety authority the state gave the federal government in 1977.

The relationship between Huntsman and Murray publicly soured after Murray indicated that the six trapped miners were probably dead and may never be recovered. The governor accused the mine owner of being insensitive to the still-hopeful families.

At a Thursday news conference, Huntsman, without using Murray's name, said, "I thought the way the families were treated was unconscionable, and they deserved better."

fahys@sltrib.com