Bill Bennett: “I thank my senior colleague for the thorough and sensitive way in which he has described this Senate tribute to the…”

“I thank my senior colleague for the thorough and sensitive way in which he has described this Senate tribute to the families and the coworkers of the miners who were killed in the Crandall Canyon mine disaster. I was there the day after the mine collapsed. The Governor was there as well. Senator Hatch was on his way and joined us later. We welcomed the assistant Secretary of Labor to Utah, and we examined with soberness and concern the facts surrounding the situation. We were not sure whether the miners had survived. There were reservations from those who were experienced with these kinds of mine problems. They were afraid the miners had, in fact, been killed in the initial blast. But we all held out hopes that they could survive, and efforts were undertaken to determine whether they were alive. To show the ruggedness of the territory, there was no way to drill a significant hole into the mine immediately because there was no road up to the top of the mountain where the drill would have to be placed. So a smaller drill was brought in by helicopter and drilled a 2 rac{1}{2} inch hole through roughly 1,200 feet in an attempt to find out whether we could make contact with any survivors who might be there. A road was built, a larger drill was brought in and followed the 2 rac{1}{2} inch hole with an 8 rac{1}{2} inch hole. Neither one produced any tangible evidence that the miners had survived.”