Details about this story

• Source: Deseret Morning News
• Date: August 19, 2007
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Lee Davidson
• Topics: Safety , Disasters
• Data Types: Federal Data
• Description/Excerpt: Despite Utah's long history of mine disasters such as the ongoing Crandall Canyon tragedy, Utah coal mines still consistently and repeatedly break even the most essential of safety rules. In fact, federal inspectors have cited underground coal mines here with more than 5,000 safety violations since 2004, and more than 1,800 of them were considered "significant and substantial" threats to health and life. Utah mines are fined hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for violations, yet the same problems recur time and again. And at least seven times in the past three years, inspectors even temporarily evacuated some Utah mine sections because of serious, imminent threats they found.