Genwal Resources, Inc. Announces Agreement Ending U.S. Attorney’s Crandall Canyon Mine Probe
Genwal Resources, Inc. (“Genwal”), operator of the Crandall Canyon Mine, announced that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah. The agreement brings to an end the four year investigation related to the August, 2007 tragedies at the Mine and resolves all potential criminal charges.
Genwal will plead to two misdemeanor violations of the Mine Act. The first concerns a
failure to report within fifteen (15) minutes a March 10, 2007 “bounce” that disrupted regular mining activity for more than one hour. Genwal did in fact report the bounce to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) on the next business day and abandoned this area of the Mine. The second misdemeanor involves a violation of the roof control plan by mining the remnant barrier pillar between crosscuts 139-142.
Significantly, the agreement reflects the lack of evidence that any conduct by the Company caused the accidents of August 6 or 16, 2007. Genwal has always maintained that its plan for mining the Crandall Canyon Mine was safe-a belief that was shared by MSHA (which approved the plan) and the mine engineering firm on which Genwal relied. Resolution of this investigation avoids Genwal putting its former employees, their families, and members of the community at large through the ordeal of reliving the tragic events.
