Two medical helicopters enroute to Utah mine after report of new collapse

MSNBC ^ | 8/16/2007 | MSNBC

[Smogger]

Two medical helicopters enroute to Utah mine after report of new collapse

[peggybac]

What’s sad is that I’m old enough to know who he is!!! :-(

[lady lawyer]

If Murray got a permit, didn’t the feds have to approve the mine plan? Wasn’t he doing everything by the book? Just curious.

People keep accusing him of cutting corners, but I haven’t seen any evidence of that. Do you have other information?

[girlangler]

Thanks for posting that.

Just watched the news conference, and it was an admitted NATURAL occurance that killed those rescuers last night. This backs up what the mine owner said about the original incident.

I want to throw up everytime I hear a stupid reporter ask an outrageous question. These reporters are tasting blood, and they want more. Sickening.

[varina davis]

I so agree! Also, we have a potential Cat. 4 Hurricane bearing down in the Caribbean headed for the S. Gulf of Mexico and the tread is being kept in general chat! What are they thinking!

[Kimberly GG]

“Just watched the news conference, and it was an admitted NATURAL occurance that killed those rescuers last night. This backs up what the mine owner said about the original incident.”

What happened last night and what happened originally are two different things.

[girlangler]

Maybe I misunderstood. Didn’t the mine safety agency spokesman just say the incident last night was caused by seismic activity? I guess I just assumed this is from earth shifting, not due to the mining activity.

I’ll admit I know nothing about this.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Just saw the presser on FOX,,,They have shut-down the underground part of the rescue effort,,,Very sad,,,
Too much has been dug out of that mine to support the
mountain’s weight,,,
The rock/ore-wall is too weak to support that much weight,,,
Ain’t no way they can shore it up at this point,,,

[Kimberly GG]

The original mine collapse itself was the source of the seismic event that was recorded, not the result of a natural earthquake.

“Our seismologists at the University of Utah are careful not to rule out any possibility, but they tell me all of the available evidence indicates that the mine collapse itself the earthquake,” Lee Siegel, a University of Utah science news specialist, said Wednesday.”

Last night’s event was cause by natural ‘aftershocks’.

“Siegel said seismologists don’t know what is actually being felt on the ground at the mine during the rescue attempts but “are presuming it’s from settling.” Eleven aftershocks were recorded in 1 1/2 days after the collapse, Siegel said. The largest was magnitude 2.2.

The U.S. Geological Survey also says it appeared the initial tremor was the mine collapse rather than a quake. Mine collapses have a seismic signature distinct from earthquakes because they tend to occur at shallower depths and at different frequencies.”

I think that Murray is being adamant beyond reason about the original cause having been an ‘earthquake’, because something called ‘retreat mining’ may have been involved...

“Murray also lashed out at news media for suggesting his men were conducting “retreat mining,” in which miners pull down the last standing pillars of coal after mining out an area and let the roof fall in.”

Can you imagine how hard it must have come down to register as an almost 4 earthquake!

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070808/D8QSSVT00.html

[Smogger]

I made the thread “breaking..” as soon as it broke. I have no idea why it was removed from breaking.

[girlangler]

Thanks K GG.

Just heard on Fox there is still a chance the trapped miners could survive. I am praying for a miracle.

[acoulterfan]

Murray is probably refusing to answer any more stupid reporter questions/insinuations and the only way to do that is not do any more press conferences.

[mmanager]

Now is not the time. You understand the permitting process. You know more than what you said: ‘just curious’

[lady lawyer]

No. I really don’t understand mine permitting. I’ve never done that kind of law.

I’m just guessing, from what I know about other permits, that the government sets standards that you have to meet in order to get a permit, and that the standards are supposed to guarantee some level of safety.

I’m just wondering what you mean. Is there evidence of Murray cutting corners, or is he getting slandered just because people don’t like his demeanor?

[Abigail Adams]

Any word on when the 4th drill will reach the mine cavity?

[glock rocks]

Salt Lake Tribune

<snip> Meanwhile, miners are drilling a fourth borehole near where they believe the men were working. The drilling slowed when miners encountered mud, but officials said they expect to finish the job sometime tomorrow. [hence, sometime Saturday]

[yorkie]

Not lookin’ good for the mine owners here:

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695201920,00.html

Not being lib or pubbie - just posting what is in the news..........this should have never become a political debate - as nothing could have changed what has already happened - prayers for all that have connections with the mine and the miners.

[Abigail Adams]

Thanks! There’s an interesting article here about how things have been handled:

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/18/742576.html&cvqh=itn_mine

[glock rocks]

I’m surprised that article is as balanced as it is.

[metaphor alert] But we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg of Monday morning quarterbacking.

Most everyone has purported to leave politics out of this while there are men trapped, some more effectively than others, FReepers and MSM alike, and if we think Bob Murray was a microphone hog, we ain’t seen nothin yet. Running anyone’s statement through the ‘agenda filter’ to find snippets of truth is going to be more of a full time job than it has been since the start.

I’ll predict a total loss of perspective to the whole picture about the time the results of the fourth hole are announced. At that time, all sources will return to becoming their thinly veiled selves, as the unions already have. The congress will go into ‘it’s fer the chilren’ mode, the MSHA will go into CYA mode, the envirals will go into evil hydrocarbon/windmill mode and on and on... in other words, they’ll shrug off their ‘concern’ for the miners and return to being their predictable selves.

How different it would have been, had the rescue, by a twist of fate, been successful.

[sevenbak]

Thanks. BTW, did anyone see the news about the China coal miners... 172 feared dead.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-17-china-mine-flood_N.htm

[sevenbak]

Isn’t it amazing that it’s the stupid reporters asking questions, and yet everyone is getting their news from the stupid reporters. What would you do without them? Accept everything Murray says at face value, or is it a good thing they are asking him hard questions. There is much more here on this mine than what is on the surface. /pun not intended.