Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Questions about the miners

So what happens to the miners who are still in the Utah mine? By this time, over two weeks since the mine collapsed, they are most likely dead but will their bodies be left entombed in the mine? Will that be their final resting place? Seems the rescue or recovery efforts have come to an end for now because it’s just too dangerous to continue.

The families surely have a right to be upset, I would be too. They will forever wonder what happened after the mine swallowed their loved ones and now it looks as though they’ll never know.

That mine should be closed to any further mining and that awful man, Bob Murray, should never have another night of peaceful sleep in his life.

21 Comments:

Blogger sumo said...

I feel the same...it should be closed. It obviously is dangerous ground there for all concerned. It's such a shame that 3 more had to die rescuing. I really feel sorry for those families. Mining isn't a good thing I'm thinking.

August 22, 2007 2:52 AM  
Blogger Fixer said...

Were it not for a politicized government agency, that moron Murray (the mine owner) would have been out of business and probably in jail years ago. He should be now. The mine should never have been allowed to operate in the first place.

That said, they should fill it in and plant 6 (or 9) grave markers on it.

August 22, 2007 2:55 AM  
Blogger Fran said...

The tragedy of this event is beyond comprehension at so many levels.

I have written about this in many places, so forgive me all who may read my words for the 2nd, 5th or 8th time.

The mine collapse and subsequent events are a metaphor for our country. We try to do what we can by exploiting cheap labor, little control over any safety or worker welfare and max profit for "the man".

The mine collapses and these workers are dead? Trapped? We don't know.

Mr. Mine Owner blames earthquake and that is pretty much summarily denied by actual scientists and agencies.

Murray keeps crying earthquake as if the various experts have not spoken. Denial, deep deep denial and a hubris that reminds me of...George Bush!

He keeps trying various clumsy and awful ways to get to the miners (think THE SURGE) and that simply results in more death and despair.

Ultimately the mine rescue is called off and we are where PoP brings us with her typically brilliant post.

This is simply my observation. How can those families feel? How can their pain and loss ever be healed?

August 22, 2007 3:13 AM  
Blogger LET'S TALK said...

How awful and sad that the families have to go through all this. I just can imagines what Murray is thinking about with his actions, he's made things worse with his rescue/disaster.

August 22, 2007 4:52 AM  
Blogger Distributorcap said...

this is so upsetting on so many levels.............

thoughts to the families........and bob murray - dont get me started

August 22, 2007 4:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My grandfather was a coal miner, and he made sure my Dad never even considered working in the mines.

Mining is a truly hard life, even now when it's so much better than it used to be. Admittedly, I'm biased - I'll never see the mines from other than the miner's viewpoint. Still, under the best of circumstances it's inherently dangerous, and I've seen no indication that the best of circumstances actually exist in an operating mine.

It takes a tragedy and loss of life to remind us of the true cost of the fuel we burn, and that the cost is not evenly distributed. I hope that they are given some comfort somehow, somewhere, in this awful tragedy.

August 22, 2007 5:24 AM  
Blogger Larry said...

People like Bob Murray are why the Molly McGuires were formed in the old mining days.

This guy parades every hour on TV, getting favorable press, when in reality he is the reason the mine collapsed.

His refusal to bring safety to the mines he owns, buying off Republican Politicians with millions of dollars in campaign donations, and his refusal to allow the miners to unionize, which would bring better wages and working conditions.

Murray should be in prison at the very least.

August 22, 2007 5:35 AM  
Blogger fallenmonk said...

Like Wren my grandfather and two of his sons were coal miners and it killed all of them via black lung.
The fat cats like Murray have been preying on miners and their families for hundreds of years and each time the miners make a little progress towards safety and healthy conditions the GOP comes back into power and reverses the gains.

They are all criminals but like always they will just take the money and run with no punishment.

August 22, 2007 5:44 AM  
Blogger robin andrea said...

It's a tragedy, but with a little concern and care for workers, one that didn't have to happen. I can't imagine what the families must feel, knowing that their loved ones are forever entombed in a hellish mine. It infuriates me when Murray opens his mouth and declares that there was an earthquake. These people are never responsible for anything.

August 22, 2007 8:26 AM  
Blogger Aaron A. said...

It's a tragedy alright.

We've been getting a lot of those lately.

August 22, 2007 10:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is a tragedy indeed. And we all share the blame. Coal mining accidents are up because it is again profitable to mine coal and marginal or shuttered properties are brought back into production (extraction really) sometimes by undercapitalized, and I am sure sometimes by unscrupulous, operators.

Coal is profitable again because of our profligate consumption of energy in the developed world and the understandable, but rapidly growing consumption of energy in the developing world. I am convinced that in the United States we are wasting no less than half of the energy we consume. And in large part due to the environmental community, we have concentrated production of our non-portable energy (electricity) into the burning of coal and natural gas.

Industry and OSHA have made tremendous strides in occupational safety for workers and the public. Nobody runs a business not caring about the safety of its workers. But in some situations not all the variables are predictable or controllable.

When you flip the switch on one of your many appliances I ask you to remember that the other end of the wire is plugged into this Utah mountain or another just like it.

August 22, 2007 1:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Industry and OSHA have made tremendous strides in occupational safety for workers and the public."....Yeh, too bad OSHA has no teeth.

Save it Scott.

This disaster doesn't belong to me or any of the other people posting here.

It belongs to the Federal Government and Mr. Murray.

August 22, 2007 1:17 PM  
Blogger Enemy of the Republic said...

Amen, sister. This makes me think of the movie Maetwan. Since when does a corporation both own the earth and decide the fates of those who earn their bread from it? Oh, this is America, I forgot.

August 22, 2007 1:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, Sis, it’s a shame self-righteousness won’t clothe the naked, feed the hungry nor heal the sick, and that we cannot all bask in the light of your flawless judgment.

August 22, 2007 1:50 PM  
Blogger Handsome B. Wonderful said...

I heard today that they are indeed shutting down the mine. This whole thing has made me sick. I too hope that we can get on a better energy source and soon!!

August 22, 2007 2:15 PM  
Blogger jmsjoin said...

That entire rescue process was mismanaged from the get go. that guy seemed inept and proved so. The feds were supposed to be in charge and I don't know why they were not.
Just think about it if those guys are still down there and alive. It is horrible to think they are going to leave them there. It isn't funny but I keep having a song from around 1969 running through my head about people trapped in a cave titled "Timothy"

August 22, 2007 3:06 PM  
Blogger Cartledge said...

I don't know if you had coverage of the Beaconsfield (Australia) mine rescue last year.
It was a long haul and as dangerous as the Utah mine. In fact it was generated by a local quake too.
The two trapped miners (a third died in the collapse) are still telling there story, thanks to the skill of rescuers.
Those same rescuers offered their assistance in Utah and where ignored.

August 22, 2007 3:58 PM  
Blogger Mary Ellen said...

As usual, the Bush clan is up to their eyeballs in this disaster. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to know that my loved one had to die that way, all because safety came last and corporate profits came first. I'm surprised, after all these problems with the mines since Bush became President, that there isn't a strike.

August 22, 2007 5:04 PM  
Blogger vanillabirdies said...

It's horrible. Just the idea of dying that way. And the families...

Murray is a monster. He deserves to never sleep or die...just to wander everywhere horribly alone and without any comfort.

August 22, 2007 11:34 PM  
Blogger The Future Was Yesterday said...

I just read two stories about an hour ago. This from CNN: "The Utah coal mine where six miners have been trapped for more than two weeks will be closed if one last rescue attempt fails to find signs they are alive, the site's co-owner said Wednesday."

This From the First Idiot: "The Bush administration is set to issue a regulation on Friday that would enshrine the coal mining practice of mountaintop removal. The technique involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams."

I can't even talk in civil tones about that other white haired prick!

August 23, 2007 12:02 AM  
Blogger Batocchio said...

I'm with you on Murray. I'd really like to see the MSM really hit the safety angle, and specifically Murray's piss-poor record on it, along with what Bush has done. Murray has lied, accused and tried to shift the blame from himself and his company.

August 23, 2007 11:56 AM  

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