I THINK MINING

This was in this morning’s e-mail from Richard Phelps of Global Mining RiSC. It was written by his colleague Larry Grayson, professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State University, and apparently appeared first in the Salt Lake Tribune. I am sure none of them will mind me repeating it, for it says what I have been thinking but could not articulate.

On the whole, coal miners and owners, managers and other professionals have a down-to-earth and humble nature, addressing problems and issues in a calm and objective manner. This is resoundingly manifested by the people seen during media interviews in the aftermath of the Utah Crandall Canyon mine incident. That includes former mine managers, representatives of miners, mining engineers, mine emergency responders, Mine Safety and Health Administration personnel, mine safety experts, etc.

Unfortunately, what the public primarily saw in briefings on the Utah mine collapse was the more bombastic and less focused style of an industry executive who is not representative of those in an array of jobs advancing the nation’s energy security. Personalities, personal history and venting on general issues must not be the message sent during emergency situations. The focus must always be on the miners and their families, supported by objective information-sharing on the status of the situation.

Sadly, Bob Murray, the CEO and president of Murray Energy Corp., which owns the mine, has not performed up to this standard, and the good and responsible professionals within the coal industry and others recognize this.

The damage to the public face of the coal industry is incredible at this juncture, impacting nearly every constituency that must cooperate to solve ongoing challenges. One provision of last year’s Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act, known as the MINER Act, was aimed at this very point. It clearly mandates that MSHA should maintain liaisons with the families of mine accident victims and should be the primary reporter during any public communications. The intent of this provision was to ensure objective and accurate information-sharing on a regular basis, first with the families, and second with the the outside world. Mr. Murray’s insistence on being the communicator violated this standard in several ways.

More than 350,000 dedicated people work in or have jobs related to the mining industry, including coal. They deserve better. They serve our country unselfishly. They perform their jobs well day after day. They sometimes work in hazardous conditions. Like our soldiers and their leaders, our miners and their supervisors pursue a high standard of professionalism, and they would like the world to know it. All of us are praying for our Utah brothers and their families, and want the incident managed professionally without the distractions of personalities or controversy on side issues. Let’s collectively demand that this happens.

I am told the Salt Lake Tribune is both pro-business and pro-mining, so this is an unprecedented attack. They also run a rather funny (but ultimately nasty) parody of said Bob Murray at this link.

And a report on 2,787 violations since 2005 at other mines owned by Murray.

It really is now almost too easy to disparage the guy, his mines, his politics, and performance. The sad thing is that he is just a product of the times: a government devoted to unreason and supression of fact & science.