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SANTAQUIN — Utah County commissioners announced earlier this week that a mine shaft in Utah County where a dozen people were burned nearly two weeks ago will be sealed. Now the commission is looking at the safety of similar mines throughout the county.
Someone has taken a safe condition and has done some things that make us think that it's not as safe as what we think it is.
–Larry Ellertson, Utah County commissioner
The mine where the accident happened is a short walk from Highway 6 east of Elberta. A sign leading up the dirt road says "No Trespassing," but many people seem to be ignoring that sign. The shaft and rebar covering the opening have burn marks from a massive homemade fire bomb.
On July 17, a total of 12 people, mainly BYU students, were injured while dropping gasoline down an abandoned mine shaft and igniting it. Several gallons of gasoline were reportedly tipped over on the grate at the entrance of the mine, creating an unexpected fireball.
"Someone has taken a safe condition and has done some things that make us think that it's not as safe as what we think it is," said Utah County Commissioner Larry Ellertson.
Ellertson said the commission spoke with the owner of the mine Friday who agreed to have it capped. Mining Company OMAG has stepped up to close it down and will charge no one for the work.
Vice-President of Operations Chris McKee said, "We would bring in heavy equipment to fill in the surrounding areas and fill in and collapse the shaft itself."
He said it would take two weeks to survey the area and come up with a safe plan.
Ellertson said they now need to talk to the owners of other closed down mines about safety, but he realizes there are a lot of mines out there. "I can't say we are going to close every one of them," he said. "I'm not sure we know where they all are."
State Division of Oil, Gas and Mines spokesman Jim Springer said there are approximately 17,000 abandoned mines throughout Utah. Several thousand of them have been closed. But many of those are not completely sealed. Because of the presence of bats and other wildlife, a grate system is placed at many of those entrances.
Ellertson said the small mine owners may also be hesitant to cap them off. "They are getting no return on it by putting that cap on," he said, "and they are sealed properly according to federal regulations." He said some mine owners would like to reserve the right to keep mines open just in case they want to mine in them again.
Ellertson said a lot of it may depend on how much it costs to collapse the current troubled mine shaft. But he said the word needs to get out that some of these mines are dangerous to mine owners and the public. And he hopes YouTube videos showing the bombings will actually discourage people from dropping the Molotov cocktails down mine shafts.
Before the mine is capped off, the Utah County Sheriff's Office will not do any extra patrols out near the blackened shaft. Deputy Susan Morgan said they check on the area frequently on weekends. But Morgan said the mine shaft is on private property and the mine owner would need to provide private security to prevent people from dropping homemade bombs again.
Written by Cleon Wall with contributions from Alex Cabrero.
