Independent Review of MSHA's Actions at Crandall Canyon Mine

Stickler contradicting or correcting these statements. They further stated they felt that Stickler
also was intimidated by Murray and did very little to correct or dispute incorrect information
that was being given to the families. There is no documentation on what Stickler told the
families concerning these misleading statements by Murray.
The families stated they were not told in initial briefings by MSHA of the magnitude of the
bounce. It was not explained to them that coal would be violently ejected from the ribs. They
were not told that the enormous amounts of coal dust placed into suspension by the bounce
would greatly limit the trapped miners’ visibility and would make breathing difficult for some
time. The limited visibility would also disorient the miners. They were not made aware that
material from the bounce had filled the four entries at crosscut 120 until they were informed
by two family members who were permitted to go underground two days after the accident.
While the rescue attempt was continuing, MSHA’s persons in charge stated that they tried to
maintain a positive attitude for the families so that they wouldn’t give up hope. Regardless,
family members stated that they believe they were given a false sense of hope throughout the
rescue attempt. They felt a lack of information caused them to believe their loved ones were
still alive. They strongly felt they should have been informed of the chances of survival of
their love ones from the beginning of the rescue attempt. The Governor agreed with the
family members regarding false hope. He stated that much of the false hope was caused by
statements made by Murray and that Murray’s statements were not always balanced with a
sense of reality.
On August 9 th , at approximately 10:15 p.m., an inaccurate oxygen reading of 20.6% (almost
normal air) was obtained from the No. 1 borehole from a measurement taken by a hand-held
instrument. This measurement was taken shortly after the drill steel penetrated into Crandall
Canyon Mine. The sample was collected not knowing that the end of the drill steel was
plugged with mud. Due to this blockage, the vacuum pump placed on the drill steel could not
draw an air sample from the mine atmosphere. This basically resulted in taking an air sample
in fresh air.
MSHA personnel responsible for taking the oxygen measurement stated they felt at the time
that it was not a valid reading. However, they did record the 20.6 % reading on the record
sheet that was being kept near the borehole. They decided that they would take additional
measurements to ensure accuracy. Meanwhile, another MSHA employee who was responsible
for the required hourly updates to the command center noted the 20.6 % oxygen reading on
the record sheet and, thinking it was valid, reported the erroneous information. This
heartening news was shared with the family members by Murray and Stickler at 11:05 p.m. on
August 9 th during a specially called family briefing.
At approximately 1:45 a.m. on August 10 th , after additional sampling was done, it was
determined that the true oxygen content of the mine air was about 7.4 %. However, families
were not told about the misinformation regarding the air sample in the No. 1 borehole until
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