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“UtahAmerican has no plans, whatsoever, to reopen the mine,” a company spokesman told ILN.
The company spoke up after an initial KSL-TV interview with Bureau of Land Management supervisor Roger Bankert late last week in which he said the company had expressed an interest in reopening the operation in Huntington Canyon at an unspecified date.
The news outlet’s report came just days before the fifth anniversary of the initial collapse at the mine which killed six miners and registered as a 3.9 earthquake in the region.
Three rescue workers were killed 10 days later in a second collapse.
Recovery efforts were later called off when no signs of the men were found and all nine bodies remain inside the now-closed mine.
According to an Associated Press report citing Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining manager Daron Haddock, Murray Energy has 20 years from the time of closure to make progress on the 3517-acre lease or surrender it.
Should the operator opt to relinquish it and it is not sold, Haddock said the state could reclaim the site.
The DOGM told KSL that Murray Energy had to pay fees to maintain the lease if no active drilling was taking place.
“The coal reserves in the area of Crandall Canyon and elsewhere are our assets and we are simply doing what [is] required by law to maintain control of our assets – nothing more, nothing less,” Murray told the news service over the weekend.
