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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Federal officials say a criminal investigation of the Crandall Canyon disaster doesn't preclude civil suits against those associated with the mine.
Earlier this week, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration asked the U.S. Attorney for Utah to conduct a criminal investigation of the mine collapse last year.
After the news, questions arose about whether miners' families could still pursue civil claims in the case.
Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman, says her office's request applied only to "pending administrative enforcement action in which MSHA is seeking to obtain civil monetary penalties against the business organizations associated with the mine."
It would not, she added, "apply to civil court proceedings brought by the victims or their families."
Three civil suits have been filed in the wake of the disaster, which killed six miners and three rescuers last August.
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
