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Alex Cabrero ReportingEd Mayne: "There's an inherent safety hazard in any kind of mining, no question about it."
Mining safety is getting lots of attention after West Virginia's disaster. Here in Utah death's have gone down tremendously, but there is still lots to be done. Utah hasn't had a major mining accident in two decades, but if companies aren't careful, what happened in West Virginia could easily happen here.
The Sago mine in West Virginia had some 200 citations in the past year alone, but mining and union experts say the penalties to a company are often so insignificant it's cheaper for them to pay the fine than to fix the problem.
It's certainly not the easiest way to make a living, but in Utah the past few years, at least it's been safer.
Ed Mayne, Utah AFL-CIO: "We're seeing less injuries and less death, but it's still a very hazardous occupation."
Since 1995 there have been 24 deaths in Utah's mines, with a high of five in 2000. That's a lot less than in decades past, and union organizations have a lot to do with it, but it may not tell the whole story.
Mike Dalpiaz: "The numbers are very deceiving because even though it's 24 in the last 10 years, our industry workforce has lessened by two-thirds in the past 15 to 10 years."
Still, safety, has to be number one and safety violations, for some companies, aren't that big of a deal.
Mike Dalpiaz: "To pay a citation of $100 or $200, they'll violate it every day. I think there's no question penalties need to be increased so they're meaningful."
Besides being affiliated with Utah's AFL-CIO, a union group, Ed Mayne is also a state senator. Being a former miner himself, he knows firsthand if the mining companies don't protect its workers in a high-hazard job, the state has to.
Ed Mayne: "Some mining companies just thumb their nose at the fine, saying this is nothing. It's just cheaper to keep doing what we're doing, and the results are more accidents and deaths of workers."
So what are the five worst mining disasters in Utah? In May 1945 in Sunnyside, an explosion killed 23 miners. Another explosion in February 1930 killed 25 people in Standardville. Many of you remember December 1984, when 27 miners died in a fire in the Wilberg Mine in Orangeville. March of 1924, 173 miners were killed in an explosion at Castle Gate. And in May of 1900, at least 200 miners were killed in an explosion at the Winter Quarters Mine in Scofield. That's one of the worst in our country's history.
