Murray and his companies received national attention in August 2007 when six miners were trapped at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah, of which Murray Energy independent operating subsidiary UtahAmerican Energy had been a part-owner for 12 months. Prior to the collapse, the Crandall Canyon Mine had received 64 violations and $12,000 in fines, magnitudes similar to other mines of this size in the United States.
...However, some news agencies reported troubling violations at other of Murray's operations. CNN specifically cited Murray's Illinois Galatia mine, which had almost 3,500 safety citations in the prior two and a half years.[12]
Murray claims that the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse was triggered by a 3.9 magnitude earthquake, while government seismologists say the mine collapse was the cause of a coal mine bump.[13] Richard E. Stickler, the government's top mine safety official said "It was not -- and I repeat, it was not -- a natural occurring earthquake."
Douglas S. Dreger, a seismologist at the University of California, Berkeley, said in the July 2008 issue of Science that his analysis strongly suggested that the mountain crumbled in two stages: After the pillars collapsed, giant, angled slabs of sandstone above the mine abruptly shifted. When the mine collapse finally occurred, it was so powerful that it registered as a 3.9 earthquake.[15]
Although the widely used industry practice of retreat mining is believed by some observers to be a cause of the mine's 2007 collapse, Murray insists the process was not responsible.[16]
On July 24, 2008, the U.S. government's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced its highest penalty for coal mine safety violations, $1.85 million, for the collapse. The government fined Genwal Resources $1.34 million "for violations that directly contributed to the deaths of six miners last year," plus nearly $300,000 for other violations. The government also levied a $220,000 fine against a mining consultant, Agapito Associates, "for faulty analysis of the mine's design."[14]
Following the Crandall Canyon tragedy, the Mine Safety and Health Administration also was faulted by its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Labor, both for lax oversight before the collapse and for its handling of a haphazard rescue effort that left three more people dead.[17] An independent review of MSHA’s role in Crandall Canyon by retired MSHA managers Earnest Teaster and Joseph Pavlovich, found that the agency failed to properly consider bounce activity in the mine prior to approving the mining plan, failed to properly evaluate the roof control plan and failed to follow established mine rescue protocols at all times at Crandall Canyon Mine...
Political and charitable activity[edit]
Since 2005, the Murray Energy PAC has donated over $150,000 to Republican candidates, including donations totaling $30,000 to Senate candidates such as George Allen, Sam Brownback, and Katherine Harris.[19] The Ohio Valley Coal PAC, another group affiliated with Murray Energy, donated $10,000 for George W. Bush's 2000 Presidential campaign.[19]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Murray
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