November 21, 2008

Utah Tower mine closed for safety concern

It is reported Murray Energy Corp subsidiary Utah American Energy's Tower mine, the deepest coal mine in the US, abruptly shut down indefinitely because of safety problems. The company's statement did not specify whether the Tower mine is being permanently shut down.

Mr P Bruce Hill CEO of UtahAmerican Energy said that they were forced to close the mine because of unexpected and unusual stress in mine pillars that threatened the safety of miners. He said that the company wanted to relocate a longwall mining machine inside Tower but found the conditions unsafe and changes ordered by federal regulators contributed to the mine's closing.

It had closed the mine for several weeks last summer as engineers tested its ability to withstand seismic shocks. The Tower mine, seven miles north of Price Utah, reopened in late January.

Mine owners were fined USD 420,000 for flagrant safety violations at the mine on March 20.