Mining tragedy reverberates among the USU community
The catastrophic loss of nine lives in a small community has been evaluated and debated among the national and local media for weeks. There have been many speculations as to what really happened in the Crandall Canyon Coal mine. Geology professor Anthony Laury said, “Due to the amount of seismic energy, it’s just a function of luck whether the miners would be able to find and survive in an air pocket.”
Nick McKee, a junior engineering major, said, “Even though the miners may have retreated into an air pocket, you still have to consider the factor of falling debris and loose gravel, which could be similar to gradually being buried alive.”
In a community where the local high school population is just over 500, the effect of a national media has certainly had a factor in the outcome of the coal mine tragedy. Sam Urie, a sophomore agriculture major and former resident of Emery County, said his family has been helping with fund-raisers in the face of the tragedy, such as Hope in the Park, held 10 days after the disaster in the local city park.
Lee Moss, USU alumnus and high school Emery County chemistry teacher, said, “I have never seen a common cause that unites a community like this since the Teton Dam broke in Rexburg, Idaho, in 1976. People have given and donated all that they can down to their last spare penny.”
Examples of the generosity and sacrifice of local members were evident when the six families of the miners were housed in the junior high school. Local cafés willingly called up the city to donate meals to feed more than100 people staying in the junior high. The only two furniture stores in Emery County donated four brand-new dinette sets along with multiple couches and chairs. Police officers donated hours of extra time in ensuring the privacy of families from the press. Even the local corn farmer retrieved 750 ears of corn within an hour’s notice to help raise money for donation.
The credit cnion in the area was able to give each of the families $10,000 by means of community donations to help pay for the rent and other expenses of the fatherless families. Even traveling news reporters were invited to stay in the homes of local residents, due to lack of rooms in the only hotel of the area.
“In all of the tragedy here, there has been a silver lining brought by uniting the community and bringing out stores of service. The miners here are like a brotherhood or fraternity,” Moss said. “They are widely respected and make up a significant part of our community. There isn’t a miner here that wouldn’t go back into that mountain to look for his brother.”
Despite the unknown fate of the lost miners, people have been able to expand resiliency and ultimately come together in a humanitarian effort to help the common good.
-whitney.kaufman@aggiemail.usu.edu