Three rescuers died at the Emery County deep mine on Aug. 16. And, 27 days after the roof collapsed, hope is all but lost for six miners trapped more than 1,500 feet underground. Coal miners everywhere, and the tight-knit mining communities of eastern Utah, deserve a silver lining. And investigators should give it to them, complete with punishment for those found at fault, and changes to safety regulations that make underground mining safer.
But don't hold too much hope for the official investigation by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, or the "independent" investigation announced by its parent agency, the Department of Labor, which mustered retired MSHA officials to probe the role that MSHA played. This much is common knowledge: MSHA approved a dangerous "retreat mining" plan that likely caused the collapse, then botched the rescue attempt. We'll see how willing the feds will be to critically examine their own actions.
Hopefully, the truly independent investigations by the state of Utah and Congress will net trustworthy results. The probes should focus on the suitability of retreat mining in Utah's geologically unique coal fields and the role it played in the tragedy.
Retreat mining is a dangerous method that maximizes production by removing pillars of coal that help form the structural support system for the mine, allowing the roof to collapse as the miners work their way back, or "retreat," toward the mine entrance.
While common in the East, where miners plumb shallow coal seams with minimal overburden, the practice has proven deadly here, where mining is conducted thousands of feet underground and the weight of the mountains brings incredible pressure to bear.
Congress and the state would be wise to mine Western colleges and universities for assistance from independent mining experts who understand the unique geology of Utah's coal fields. Experts who have nothing to hide, nothing to gain, and, unlike federal investigators, nothing to lose. Experts who are given free rein to find the cause of the collapse, and more importantly, that elusive silver lining.
