UtahAmerican is a Murray Energy Corp. subsidiary that also co-owned the Crandall Canyon coal mine near Huntington, where nine people died in two catastrophic collapses last August. The company said it had to close the Tower mine because of "recently encountered, unexpected and unusual stress conditions."
P. Bruce Hill, UtahAmerican's president and chief executive officer, said the safety of the mine's employees was at stake, given unforeseen geological and mining conditions. Most of the employees will be transferred to UtahAmerican's nearby West Ridge Mine, which is being expanded, he said.
"Safety is our only initial concern, and we do not believe that the Tower Mine can be operated at this time," Hill said, adding that "unforeseen changes in requirements by the [federal] Mine Safety and Health Administration also have contributed to the forced closure of the mine."
Last week, MSHA fined Murray Energy $420,000 for two flagrant violations of safety regulations, contending the Ohio-based company repeatedly allowed buildups of potentially explosive coal dust in the Tower mine.
MSHA's web site indicates there were 11 reported roof falls and wall collapses at the Tower mine over the past year that resulted in five injuries. Last month, MSHA stopped work temporarily until the company repaired damage from a rock fall.
The agency also cited the company for failing to submit a roof control amendment as required by law "when conditions indicate that the plan is not suitable for controlling the roof, face, ribs, or coal or rock bursts."
MSHA's Amy Louviere said in an e-mail that "we cannot speculate as to what 'unforeseen changes' UtahAmerican references in its press release."
The Tower mine is among the nation's deepest coal mines. Its longwall mining machines were operating 2,500 to 3,000 feet beneath the Book Cliffs. The Crandall Canyon mine collapses occurred in work areas 2,000 feet below the surface of the Wasatch Plateau.
"Following the Crandall Canyon accident, MSHA has been more closely monitoring ground conditions at the [Tower] mine and underground mines with more than 750 feet cover," Louviere said.
Mike Dalpiaz of the United Mine Workers of America in Price said the safety of the Tower mine, which is not unionized, was questionable even before UtahAmerican decided to shut it down.
"It is a very deep mine full of coal dust, methane and hydrocarbons. And lo and behold, right after MSHA comes in and fines them for safety violations, the company determines the mine isn't safe and decides to shut it down," Dalpiaz said.
UtahAmerican said it closed the mine on Aug. 27 for several weeks while it performed additional engineering, ground control studies and modification of the longwall mining equipment to "further ensure the safety of the employees."
Once the studies were completed and several technical changes made, MSHA approved reopening of the mine in January. However, the mine's management recently observed "unexpected and unusual stress conditions on the longwall section" to which the mining equipment was to be moved.
It was unclear from the company's statement if it plans to reopen the mine. Susan Etzel of the Utah Division of Workforce Service's office in Price said her agency is working to find out how many workers might be affected.
James Kohler, chief of the solid minerals branch for the Utah Bureau of Land Management, said the company has yet to submit an application to BLM to close the mine, as it is required to do.
"As far as we were concerned, they were operating in accordance with the approved plan and we weren't aware of anything that would have changed that," he said.
A BLM inspector was in the mine earlier this month, but the report has not been filed, Kohler said
As of late today, Murray Energy and Hill had not replied to questions sent by e-mail.
