Major Mine Disasters In The Area

Mather Miners Memorial


Robena Monument at Hatfield Ferry

DATE MINE NAME CITY LIVES LOST CAUSE

03-06-02 Catsburg Monongahela, Pa. 5 Explosion
11-21-03 Ferguson Connellsville, PA 17 Explosion
07-06-05 Fuller Searight, PA 6 Explosion
10-10-05 Hazelkirk No. 2 Monongahela, PA 2 Explosion
10-13-05 Clyde Fredericktown, PA 6 Fire
10-29-05 Hazel Kirk No. 2 Monongahela, PA 5 Explosion
11-15-05 Braznell Bentleyville, PA 7 Explosion
12-19-07 Darr Jacobs Creek, PA 239 Explosion
11-28-08 Rachel and Agnes Marianna, PA 154 Explosion
03-22-11 Hazel Canonsburg, PA 9 Haulage
07-30-15 Patterson No. 2 Elizabeth, PA 9 Haulage
03-13-17 Henderson No. 1 Henderson, PA 14 Explosion
06-02-20 Ontario Cokeburg, PA 6 Explosion
02-02-22 Gates No. 2 Gates, PA 25 Explosion
07-25-24 Gates No. 1 Brownsville, PA 10 Explosion
04-02-27 No. 53 Cokeburg, PA 6 Explosion
05-19-28 Mather No. 1 Mather, PA 195 Explosion
06-07-44 Emerald Clarksville, PA 6 Fire
03-12-45 Crucible Crucible, PA 5 Roof/Bump
09-23-57 Marianna No. 58 Marianna, PA 6 Explosion
12-06-62 Robena No. 3 Carmichaels, PA 37 Explosion
11-20-68 No. 9 Farmington W.Va. 78 Explosion
07-22-72 Blacksville No. 1 Blacksville, W. Va. 9 Fire

Consider that these listed are only the major accidents in the area. Many others died daily in the mines. In 1907 Pennsylvania lost 1614 with 5 disasters alone claiming more than 800 men, the other 800 lives were lost in normal day to day operations.
The high death rate among miners was due, not to spectacular gas explosions but to the steady picking off of workers in slate falls. In the entire US, in the thirty three years ending Jan.1,1939, 27,064 men died from slate falls, only 8,045 from explosions - 77 percent as opposed to 23%. The sudden smothering death of one or two miners at a time was so common it rated a couple lines on page two of the newspaper.
"On..........a slate fall cost the life of ........., an employee at the .........'s .......... mine. There will be a High Requiem Mass at St. .......'s Church on the morning of ......... The deceased leaves a wife and ....... children, etc."

Not too far up the Monongahela at Monongah West Virginia was the largest loss of life in any mine in US history , 362 men died after an explosion tore through Monongah # 6 and 8 on December 6, 1907. Not one man that was in the mine came out and lived.



Greene County Monument on Interstate 79.

The text reads :
On December 6, 1962, 460 Feet Directly Beneath This Site, 37 Miners Lost Their Lives In The U.S. Steel Robena Mine's Frosty Run Explosion. One Of The Worst Mine Disasters In Green County History.
The memorial features a likeness of famous mine labor leader John L. Lewis; on the reverse side is a roll of Greene County Miners. President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from 1920 until 1960 and founding president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), John Llewellyn Lewis was the dominant voice shaping the labor movement in the 1930s. The CIO owed its existence in large measure to Lewis, who was a tireless and effective advocate of industrial unionism and of government assistance in organizing basic industry.
The date of dedication was May 26, 1995.



The Coal Miners Memorial at Bethlehem Center High School, Fredericktown, Pa. Not a disaster memorial but a beautiful statue.

Memorial Service to Honor Robena Miners

A memorial service will be held Dec. 6 to honor the miners who died 46 years ago in an explosion at U.S. Steel Corp.'s Robena Mine. Local Union 1980 and UMWA District 2 are sponsoring the service to honor the 37 miners who died in one of Greene County's worst mining disasters. A buildup of methane gas exploded, killing 37 members of a continuous miner crew while they worked. "On that fateful day, their government failed them," said Edward D.Yankovich, international vice president of UMWA District 2 at the service in 2007. "It failed them because it did not adequately protect them. It failed because throughout all these tragedies there were no regulatory agencies." Many union officials cite the Robena disaster as one of the reasons behind the enactment of the 1969 Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. Unfortunately, it took seven years and another major mine explosion, one that killed 78 miners in Farmington, W.Va., in 1968, before the law was signed. "The Farmington mine explosion was covered on television and the whole nation saw that," Yankovich said. "People in California and Oregon, where there is no coal mining, saw what happens to coal miners and understood the pain and suffering we in Appalachia have known for centuries," he said. Yankovich said the federal government decided to act, finally, by creating the Mine Safety and Health Administration. "But then in 1976, the Scotia Mine in Kentucky blew up and the government said maybe regulations need to be stronger," he said. "But disasters continued to happen, and coal miners still die every day, from black lung and direct injury," he said. He pointed to the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia and one at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah. "It is up to us to change the future. It is up to us to bring this to light. It is up to us to elect an administration that sees our plight in a favorable way," he said.

On Saturday, December 6, the United Mine Workers of America will hold the memorial service at 11 a.m. at the Robena Monument on Route 21 in Monongahela Township, just west of Hatfield's Ferry Power Station. An account of this and other mine disasters in Greene County can be found here. Most of this was taken from a story by Jon Stevens of the Washington Pa. Observer-Reporter.