With coal boom, more miner risks

Utah has seen the fastest rise in coal-mining employment of any major coal-producing state.

A herculean effort to rescue six coal miners trapped deep inside the Crandall Canyon Mine in central Utah is focusing national attention on a downside of the nation’s coal boom. As the industry gears up to extract record amounts of coal for growing US energy needs, it’s employing a growing cadre of workers in an inherently dangerous occupation.

Nowhere is this trend clearer than in Utah.

It has seen the fastest rise in coal-mining employment of any major coal-producing state. From 2002 to 2006, the number of miners has jumped from 1,525 to 1,994
The dangers were brought home last week when a cave-in last Monday trapped six miners near Huntington, Utah. Since then, several ways to contact the miners have been undertaken. On Saturday, a hole