I THINK MINING

The following is a shortened version of a longer piece I post at this link. The longer version also provides links to all the sources I quote and have consulted in compiling this posting.

Let me do something sure to be unpopular. Let me defend Bob Murray who owns the Crandall Mine in Huntington, Utah. Before I defend him, let me acknowledge that I have posted on this blog pieces critical of him, his performance, his defense of earthquake-induced collapse, and even his stance on global warming. But here I want to take another look at somebody who may epitomize the Shakespearean tragic hero: think Lear. Or a figure from both Shakespeare and grand opera: think Othello or MacBeth.

A bit of Murray’s history first, from the Washington Post:

Murray has been at the company’s helm since he founded it 20 years ago, but he likes to remind his audiences that he is no boardroom suit. He comes from three generations of coal miners in southeastern Ohio, his father was paralyzed in a mining accident, and he himself has been injured below ground. (He pulled back his shirt to show reporters one scar this week.) To help support his family, Murray worked in mines and mowed lawns as a teenager, using a miner’s hat with a lamp to allow him to work after dark. After considering medical school, he won an engineering scholarship at Ohio State University and spent the next three decades at North American Coal. He rose to chief executive but left in 1987 after, he says, clashing with the board over its plan to slash workers’ pensions. He then took out a mortgage on his house to start his own company.

Surely there is something fascinating about a man of whom it can be written:

“His blue-collar roots have left him with a strong grudge against coastal elites who work in air-conditioned offices and are too squeamish or out of touch to think about where the electricity comes from to power their laptops, stereos and espresso makers. “These people from California and New England who run the government have no idea what it’s like for someone to put on a hard hat and go to work. They have this Olympian detachment,” he said in the interview. When he went to testify on Capitol Hill this year, he recalled, “I asked them, ‘Do you know what it is to carry a bucket or wear a hard hat?’ And they didn’t even know what a ‘bucket’ is. I had to explain to Nancy Pelosi that it was really a lunch I was talking about.”

Earlier today I wrote a blog piece (see below) on the silliness of carbon credits. Thus I cannot but have sneaking sympathy for his views on the issue:

“He is deeply skeptical of the scientific consensus that global warming is being caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, preferring to lend credence to outsider theories for climate change, such as sunspot activity or a shift of Earth’s magnetic north redirecting ocean currents. He has withering criticism for fellow energy executives who are looking for ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, saying they are in it for their own gain and will harm the economy.”

He has owned the Crandall Mine for but a year. Let us assume that he took a look at the expensive consulting reports he presumably got along with ownership of the mine. Seems this is what happened:

[Crandall Mine] hired Agapito Associates Inc., a Grand Junction, Colo., engineering firm, to analyze how to safely mine the southern sections. Agapito’s April 18 memo to mine co-owner and operator UtahAmerican Energy Inc. said the operators were involved in retreat mining — a common but sometimes dangerous practice that involves pulling out leftover sections and pillars of coal that hold up the roof. MSHA officials have said they approved a plan for the mine to engage in retreat mining. Murray said Monday that it was Agapito that recommended Crandall Canyon’s mining plan and he asserted that it was “perfectly safe.”

Let us look at Agapito’s site to see what goes on. Their client list is long and impressive. They claim 300 clients and over 2,000 domestic and international projects.

There are many publications by their staff listed at this site. Here are the abstracts of some. They quickly prove that poor old Bob Murray was wrong again, but give him credits for conviction when he says: “We’ve had a once-in-a-lifetime disaster here. This has not happened before. We have never seen seismic activity as occurred in this case.”

Here are two (edited) abstracts (see the full piece at this link for more abstracts, the complete abstracts, and links to the papers where available):

Dealing with coal bursts at Deer Creek: Five Stress Factors Conducive to Bursts in Utah, USA, Coal Mines High stresses and adverse geology in deep coal mines in the state of Utah, USA, have caused numerous bursts. The larger bursts have been associated with seismic events with Richter magnitudes of 3.6, and in some cases have filled openings for lengths of 150 m.

Interpanel Barriers for Deep Western U.S. Longwall Mining. Western U.S. longwall operators face increasing challenges with optimizing ground control and productivity as mines reach greater depths and coal bursting hazards increase. Some western U.S. mines, many known to be bump-prone, achieved a successful balance between ground control and productivity by transitioning to side-by-side longwall panel mining combined with a yield pillar gateroad system.

At least on the basis of their papers, and, I submit, on the basis of the expertise they claim on their site, Agapito is the expert. Here are some of their project descriptions of work they have done in the Huntington area (again I edit–but see this link for all the complete project descriptions)

Energy West Mining Company, Huntington, Utah, USA A review of existing geotechnical and geological data was conducted to provide a basis for recommendations for the instrumentation of longwall panels in both the Deer Creek and Cottonwood Mines.

GENWAL Resources, Inc., Huntington, Utah, USA A longwall feasibility study was conducted for deep cover mining under difficult conditions including numerical analysis, gateroad design, longwall support capacity specifications, reserves, and productivity analysis.

Utah Power & Light Company, Huntington, Utah, USA Extensive field measurements and computer analyses were performed for the design of longwall gateroads and main entry pillar sizes for optimum stability and resource recovery in two- and three-seam longwall mining under variable cover up to 2300 ft and variable interburden between 20 to 100 ft at the Deer Creek and Wilberg Mines.

Then we have the roll of MSHA. They are making pronouncements, but who can believe them. Their role to date in improving U.S. mine safety has been spotty. But this piece is not about them or their failures. Suffice it to say in Murray’s defense that he was probably informed that MSHA approved the Agapito plans and they were good. I mean, does a guy who owns that many mines have to interrogate the many expensive consultants that each and every one of his mines engages? In retrospect, maybe yes. In reality, no way. Does he have to ignore every approval by every regulatory agency and make his own contrary decision. In theory, yes. In practice, no way.

So while we may deplore Murray’s brash style, his contrary opinions, and his take-charge attitude, I for one have a sneaking sympathy for a man who is at the pit head, fighting for his beliefs and his workers, regardless of what the elite say. And regardless of his beliefs–for surely the American way is to free-speach your thoughts and then deal with the bloggers, press, associated know-it-alls, and Monday morning Quarterbacks. But I pity Agapito when he turns on them.