Laine Adair, the man in the cross hairs of Rep. George Miller's request for a criminal investigation into last August's Crandall Canyon mine disaster, has worked in Utah's coal mining industry for 34 years.
    A resident of Spring Glen, north of Price, Adair is the general manager of Murray Energy Corp.'s operations in Utah, which includes one mine currently in operation (West Ridge), three that are closed (Tower, Crandall Canyon and South Crandall Canyon) and a fifth in the planning stage (Lila Canyon).
    He held a similar position when those operations were owned previously by Andalex Resources Inc.
    Adair started his career in 1974 at Price River Coal Co., where he was a planning engineer, certified mine foreman and mine rescue team captain. In that last capacity, he led his team on six dangerous forays into the burning Wilberg mine in December 1984, trying to rescue the 27 miners who died there.
    Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, singled out Adair in a criminal referral request to the U.S. Justice Department, citing Adair's role as prime intermediary between the mining company and federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) officials who approved Crandall Canyon's mining plans.
    Adair could not be reached for comment Thursday. But his Washington, D.C., attorney, Gregory Poe, said Miller's criminal referral was "disappointing and utterly unjustified" and expressed confidence Adair will be vindicated.
    Miller alleged that Adair and other company executives did not properly report a sizable collapse of coal in March that ended efforts to pull roof-supporting coal pillars in Crandall Canyon's North Barrier pillar, and "may have significantly downplayed the extent of the March bump in conversations with MSHA staff."
    Miller cited the testimony of MSHA District Manager Allyn Davis, who said Adair's description of the event differed from photographs he saw of the destruction in the North Barrier pillar - about 900 feet from the South Barrier pillar where six miners were entombed Aug. 6.
    "The photos that I saw and the descriptions I got from Laine Adair don't match," Davis was quoted as saying.
    MSHA officials might not have approved the plan to mine the South Barrier pillar if they had known the extent of the March collapse, Miller said. He speculated that "Adair and others at [the mining company] may have purposely misled MSHA about the severity of the March bump fearing MSHA would close the mine, and continued to adhere to the mischaracterization after the August incident in an effort to downplay the foreseeability of the August incident."
    Poe responded that "the facts will show that Mr. Adair's conduct was entirely proper."
    mikeg@sltrib.com