On Monday, Behling's hardhat was put away and he was visiting the Utah Department of Workforce Services in Price. Behling was one of 170 miners laid off by the owners of Crandall Canyon and two other eastern Utah mines.

"I kind of feel like I was stepped on," Behling said.

In Carbon and Emery counties, the 170 miners Murray Energy Corp. laid off over the weekend assessed their options. The company has not extracted coal from the Crandall Canyon mine since the Aug. 6 collapse and has stopped work at the Tower mine in Carbon County while engineers and scientists examine safety concerns there. Work is continuing at the West Ridge mine, but some of those employees have been let go as well.

Company president Robert Murray described the layoffs as temporary until work can resume safely at the Tower mine. The company offered employees jobs at its mines in Galatia, Ill., and St. Clairsville, Ohio., beginning Wednesday.

Bruce Hill, president and CEO of UtahAmerican, a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp., said as of 5 p.m. Monday, 40 workers had accepted the offer to work in the Midwest.

Brian August, a 26-year-old father of four in Price, was on the telephone Monday afternoon talking with the company, friends and family to decide if he would take the offer. His wife, Traci August, sat on the arm of the couch while he paced around and spoke on the phone.

"We just had a new baby," Traci August said, "and if he leaves . . ."

She started to cry, then apologized for it.

Brian August decided to remain in Price, saying he doesn't want to leave his family. The Augusts will try to make ends meet with unemployment benefits.

"Hopefully I can survive for a month and I'll go back to work as soon as it opens up," August said.

Stacy Marston, a Price resident and father of a 9-year-old daughter, said he is going to work in the Midwest, though as of Monday afternoon he did not know whether it would be in Illinois or Ohio.

"It's a good offer and just to stay employed right now is a good thing," he said.

Susan Etzel, the manager at the Price Workforce Services office, said a group of miners arrived at 8 a.m. Many wanted to know whether they would still qualify for unemployment benefits if they declined the offer to work in the Midwest.

Etzel said the miners will qualify; the law does not require anyone to leave the state to seek work. She thinks the miners came to the office early because an information sheet from the company said they had to say by noon whether they would take the jobs.

Etzel anticipates that the layoffs will reverberate through the area's economy.

"One hundred seventy is a lot because then you're looking at, 'What about the coal haulers? What about the retailers?' " she asked. "We're expecting it to affect a lot."

Etzel is familiar with the ups and downs of the coal industry. Her cousin, Kerry Allred, is one of the six men trapped in the Crandall Canyon mine.

The June unemployment rates in Carbon and Emery counties were slightly above the state average but low enough the counties were considered "fully employed" by federal standards. However, the Murray Energy mines were some of the highest paying jobs in the area, offering $20 to $28 per hour, the company said. The Illinois and Ohio mines pay $18 to $25.

Hill said Monday the company still wants to rehire its laid-off employees once the Tower mine reopens.

"I doubt if we're going to be running in three to four weeks, but when we are running we want to have a skilled work force," Hill said.

Brett Butler, another miner who lost his job, arrived at the Workforce Services office with his 23-month-old shaggy-haired son, Ryker.

Butler has a 5-month-old son, too. He said his family prevents him from taking the offer in the Midwest, but thought it was a great gesture from Robert Murray.

"I totally appreciate it," Butler said. "I think he's done wonders."

Behling, 31, of East Carbon, is married with three children. He had 2 1/2 years of experience and was working at the West Ridge mine when the Aug. 6 collapse occurred.

He was sent to Crandall Canyon to help with the rescue. The first day, another collapse buried him in the machine he was driving. He was not hurt.

Behling said he worked 18 hours a day until the Aug. 16 collapse killed three of the rescuers and stopped work inside the mine.

He went on vacation and upon his return was told he didn't have a job. He's still waiting to be paid for all the time he spent on the rescue effort.

The company should have given priority to miners who worked on the rescue, he said.

"It's not fair, the selection of the guys that got cut," Behling said.

Still, Behling hopes to return to the coal mines. And he would return to Murray Energy.

"The danger's there for everyone in every job," he said.

ncarlisle@sltrib.com