PAUL FOY
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The operator of the Utah coal mine that collapsed in 2007, killing nine people, has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in fines for federal safety violations.
Genwal Resources Inc. says it has reached a settlement with the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Genwal, an affiliate of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., insists the safety violations had nothing to do with the deadly collapse.
The company has already settled wrongful death lawsuits and criminal charges that carried a $500,000 fine.
Federal regulators plan to discuss the final settlement later Thursday.
The Crandall Canyon collapse was so powerful it registered as a 3.9-magnitude earthquake. It leveled a section of the mine as large as 63 football fields, entombing six miners.
Another cave-in 10 days later killed two rescuers and a federal inspector.
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