Testifying before a House congressional committee on Wednesday, family members
representing Crandall Canyon miners said that the Mine Safety and Health
Administration failed to do the job it was set up to do ? protect miners.

Family members who testified before the House Committee on Education and Labor
questioned why MSHA approved a mining plan for Crandall Canyon that allowed
the company to perform retreat mining and why the agency wasn't in charge of
giving the families information as opposed to Murray Energy executives.

Cesar Sanchez, a coal miner and the brother of Manny Sanchez, one of the six
miners trapped underground and now presumed dead, wanted to know how Murray
Energy managed to get a permit to do retreat mining at a mine where most of
the coal was already taken.

Andalex Resources, the previous owner of the mine until Murray Energy bought
the mine in 2006, had extracted most of the mine's recoverable reserves using
longwall mining. In the areas of the mine where Murray was removing coal,
Andalex said it believed it was unsafe to try to get the remaining coal from
the barrier pillars because they were crucial to maintaining the mine's
stability.

"I looked at the mine plan and I couldn't believe they were permitted to
mine," Steve Allred, a coal miner and the brother of Kerry Allred, one of the
trapped miners, told House members.

But in a teleconference later that day, MSHA head Richard Stickler told
reporters that the decision to allow retreat mining was made by MSHA's Utah
district managers and that he trusted they "exercised their authority and did
it properly." He also said he would reserve further comments until the
investigation was completed.

Governor decries 'lack of defined authority'

Family members were also angry that no one seemed to be in charge of the
rescue. They testified that Robert Murray, president of Murray Energy, barely
answered their questions and ignored many of their suggestions. Worse, they
said, MSHA officials seemed timid and afraid to take charge.

That sentiment was echoed by Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who testified that
there was "a lack of defined authority or coordination at MSHA.

"There needs to be a designated spokesman. If that had happened, the
atmosphere would have been very different," Huntsman said.

--Regina Johnson, regina_johnson@platts.com

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