The ‘Lord’ has already decided that the corporate world must pay for unsafe and unhealthy practices regardless of any natural events from the seismic activities originating FIVE miles away and from the alleged cave-ins that hampered the rescue mission to a week! The six miners trapped over one thousand five hundred feet below the ground in Huntington, Utah should not have to pay with their lives.
With over 300 violations since January 2004, including 118 ‘significant and substantial’ violations, the history of safety and health citations to the Crandall Canyon Mine should be grounds to hold this and other businesses alike accountable for any lives lost regardless of any ACTS OF GOD! I will no longer tolerate the use of any label in reference to any deity in vain as a means to justify any ends to irresponsible actions made by any mere mortal!
Noone, not even people who channel of any messages from the dead, deceased or unknown, would know the fate of the six miners not yet rescued. Even the seismic officials will not provide definite cause to why the mine collapsed on Tuesday, August 06, 2007. Yet, Robert E. Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp., and owner of the Crandall Canyon mine continues his aggressive stance in defending the company with all these substandard working conditions.
His unclear charts showing the layout of the mine shafts for the possible whereabouts of these six miners, his testy responses with Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat for California about the injury rates and his sentiments for jobs being lost to foreign countries and pro-labor unions being replaced by globalization do not convince me.
For whatever reasons, I foresee the rights of workers (especially the missing six miners) to be in clear violation. This current example of the Utah mines and the previous news of the Minneapolis bridge both show how profit making businesses continue to cut cost by violating any laws and regulations set forth by the government to make sure the freedom of its citizens are secured for more days of life, liberty and happiness.
Cutting cost does not mean hiring illegal immigrants to increase output and thereby revenue for the company. From what I’ve read, there appears to be some miners who are not citizens of this country. And yet these workers risked their lives at the expense of their health and safety and all for making some living to support themselves and their families, who may never ‘truly’ know the status of their missing loved ones.
The delay in the rescue could possibly imply that the company does not care to try harder and save these hard working people. Perhaps saving lives is too great a cost for any company and being dead is more beneficial to their loved ones. Once again, greed seems to be the motivating factor here and no broken heart could replace money well earned – honestly or not.
This particular mining company should discontinue using the seismic events as reasons for not paying on the potential deaths of their workers. The families will find other ways to make sure justice is served. This means to find out any insurance policy that may entitle them to any claims for the deceased, if any. The families may go as far as to shut down the coal industry for good.
Mining for coal provides the world electricity and heat through combustion. Coal is a fossil fuel that when converted is the largest single source of fuel, such as gasoline or diesel. This means that the coal industry is has been around long enough not to waste its resources on discovering alternative means to reduce and possibly eliminate harmful effects, such as acidifying the air and water or on saving lives from cave-ins.
I believe the alleged ‘earthquake’ may have been a cave-in caused by this retreat mining, which is a dangerous practice of removing material and leaving behind pillars of coal in place of beams, such as wood, to hold up the heavy ceilings from caving into the ‘retreating’ miners below. This mining accident may well be avoided with proper escape routes and ventilations too.
Accidents do happen and could be avoided as long as people and businesses are honest enough to comply with any regulating laws of the land. With globalization under way, the price of saving lives and in the name of the ‘Lord’ is too high. The mining of coal as a bountiful natural resource is damaging to the planet too. And I also foresee the coal industry will need to be replaced if it does not clean up after itself and its harmful effects on the environment.
Copyright © 2007 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.
