Independent Review of MSHA's Actions at Crandall Canyon Mine

trapped miners should, to the extent possible, be verified before the information is shared with
family members or made public.
Any information disseminated which is later determined to be inaccurate should be correctly
communicated to the families as soon as possible.
Non-English Speaking Family Members
Three of the miners who were trapped in the Crandall Canyon Mine on August 6 th were of
Hispanic heritage. Many of their family members spoke little or no English. A translator was
required for family members to understand what was being said at the family briefings. This
created some confusion and uncertainty on the part of the victims’ families.
An MSHA employee who worked in nearby Salt Lake City, and was bi-lingual, was directed
to provide assistance to individuals who had problems understanding English. The employee
arrived at the family center on the day of the accident at approximately 9:00 p.m. He
answered questions and clarified mining terms for some family members. However, he did
not translate information shared during family briefing sessions because other translators were
present.
On Tuesday, August 7 th , there were Spanish-speaking individuals available to interpret the
briefing for the non-English speaking families. However, those persons conducting the
briefing did not allow time for translators to immediately repeat the information. Thus, notes
were taken by the translators, and discussions were held with the family members at the
conclusion of the briefings. This caused some confusion in relaying information. As a result,
following the briefing on the morning of August 8 th , a translator approached Murray and
requested that he (Murray) pause long enough between statements to allow translators to
repeat the comments during the briefing, rather than afterwards. The translator indicated that
the information would be more accurate if this was done. Murray became angry and stormed
out of the meeting. Following a discussion with Governor Huntsman and Stickler, Murray
agreed to allow time for translation during the briefing. Prior to this, MSHA had not taken
any action to control the briefings in a manner that allowed the translators appropriate time to
translate during the briefings.
Conclusion: MSHA initiated prompt action to assign a Spanish speaking employee to provide
assistance for the non-English speaking individuals.
During the first two days of the family briefings, MSHA took no steps to have the speaker at
the family briefings pause between statements so the interpreters could translate what was
being stated.
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