Description Centralia Coal Company was owned by Bell & Zoller Coal & Mining Company. Herbert E. Bell was the Chairman and William P. Young was the Vice President. Illinois ranked third in coal production. Four agencies had authority over coal mining at the time; the state of Illinois, the United States Government, Centralia Coal Company and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The explosion in Centralia No. 5 occurred on March 25, 1947. Beginning with his appointment in 1941, State Mine Inspector Driscoll O. Scanlan sent inspection reports to the Department of Mines and Minerals (DMM) Director Robert M. Medill. The U.S. Bureau of Mines inspected Centralia No. 5 the first time in September 1942. Findings and recommendations were the same in all reports. Scanlan requested maintenance related to safety issues. The U.S. Bureau of Mines report supported his findings. In all this time nothing was done. Diagnosis Inspector Scanlan sent reports every three months from 1942 – 1944 repeating recommendations and adding new ones. He considered Centralia No. 5 the worst mine in his district. Coal dust and gas are explosion hazards. Steps can be taken to minimize these concerns. Rock dusting is a method used to localize an explosion. Illinois law requires rock dusting in a seriously dusty mine. Mr. Scanlan was the first line for the miners. He had the authority to close the mine and did not do it. He later mentioned being afraid of losing his job. It was his responsibility as a public administrator to take action. As part of his campaign for Governor, Dwight Green had promised to enforce mining laws. In 1941 Governor Green appointed Robert Medill as Director of the Department of Mines and Minerals. The Mining Board makes the p... ... middle of paper ... ...plete report. Before this was done the mine blew up. In the end, the news story that broke was focused on union campaign contributions and not on mine safety. All levels of protection for the miners failed them. Every agency that was entrusted with their safety had other concerns as priority. Mr. Scanlan submitted true and honest reports of violations over a long period of time but never went that extra step to enforce the law. State authorities should have acted when the initial reports were made. The Union membership was at risk and yet the Union never represented Local 52 nor gave it support when it tried on its own to get state assistance with their grievances. Politics and profit motivated elected officials appointees and the coal company. Works Cited Stillman, R.J., (2010), Public Administration Concepts and Cases, Boston, Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Arnold & Porter chose to sue Pittston rather than the Buffalo Mining Company because the value of the corporation allowed for adequate compensation to the victims. Author and head lawyer for the plaintiffs, Gerald M. Stern, writes that the original goal was sue to sue for $21 million for the disaster to have a material effect on the cooperation (51). To avoid responsibility Pittston attempted to prove that the Buffalo Mining Company was an independent corporation with its own board of directors. The lawyers for the plaintiffs disproved this claim by arguing the Buffalo Mining Company never held formal meetings of the board of directors and was not independent of the parent company. During this case Pittston’s Oil division had applied to build an oil refinery in Maine. The ...
The Making of a Hardrock Miner written by Stephen M. Voynick, describes his own personal experiences as a hardrock miner in four different underground mines in the western United States, the Climax molybdenum mine in Colorado, Hecla Lakeshore Project a copper mine in Arizona, and two uranium mines in Wyoming. Rather than a book telling of the fortunes gained and lost, this book was about the relationships gained, but then also lost through mining. Stephen M. Voynick’s direct words and simple writing style provided a book that was an easy read and educational about mine work and safety.
... tragedy. Governor Green was a great deal of letters from the miners and union asking in this quote “ plea to you, to please save our lives, to please make the department of mines and minerals enforce the laws at the No.5. “ The miners felt if there was no action taken there might be a disaster in the future.
... safe enough work spaces. This got so out of hand, that President Roosevelt stepped in and told the company that if something was not worked out, and then the government was just going to have to come in and run their whole coal mining business.
Due to political aspirations, government bureaucracy, and greed 111 men lost their lives and devastated the lives of loved ones and a community. While, I believe that it was collection of people who is to blame for the explosion one person who could have really avoided this situation was Robert M. Medill and his assistant Robert Weir. Robert Medill, Director of the Illinois of Bureau of Mines and Minerals, was a man filled with greed and power and did nearly nothing to fix the hazardous condition in Centralia. Medill department were very aware of the dangerous conditions at the mine but ignored requests to correct violations. Instead, Medill and Weir’s handling of the inspection reports and other communications were not conducive to clearing
Throughout this mining process a byproduct is created called chat. The chat is leftover rock and waste from mining that did not contained the desired materials. The chat was left on the site because the Bureau of Indian Affairs thought it could be of value to the Quapaw tribe (1). This chat contained high levels of toxic lead and other harmful chemicals. It is estimated that there are 75 Million tons (150 billion pounds) of chat piles remaining exposed to the environment as well as numerous flotation ponds that haven’t been taken into account (4).
The late 19th century and early 20th centuries were a very tumultuous time in the Western United States, especially in the rapidly growing mining industry. The documentary “Fire in the Hole” explores specifically in how the relationship between miners and owners developed as labor unions became more prevalent and more influential. Along with these parties, other groups including the state and local government, non-unionized workers, and immigrant workers were forced to choose sides and be a part of this extremely violent conflict. The very nature of this struggle was a back and forth between the two main parties, trying to get an upper hand and having more control. For the workers, it was about controlling their own livelihood and the terrible
Being rich in natural resources, the region contains some of the richest mineral deposits in America (Daugneaux 1981). The coal, timber, oil, gas, and water contained within the Appalachian Mountains are resources that have historically influenced the economic characteristics of the region. The Region's economy has been highly dependent on mining, forestry, agriculture, chemical industries, and heavy industry, among which coal mining appears to be the largest financial contributor to the economy. Although half of the U.S. electricity comes from coal energy, many Americans now precious little about the earth-ravaging mining practice called mountaintop-removal mining used to extract coal in Southern Appalachia. The radical strip-mining process literally blow the tops off mountains with thousands of pounds of explosives to reach thin seams of coal. They then dump millions of tons of rubble and toxic waste into the streams and valleys below the mining sites. The mining poisons drinking water, destroys beautiful forests and wildlife habitat, increases the risk of flooding, and wipes out entire communities. There are four distinctive people groups that are involved in the mountaintop removing process, the coal companies, the Appalachians, environmental groups and the federal court. To fully understand the way natural resources have been understood, used, and allocated, it is important to recognize this diversity. In this paper I will identify the approach to resource management of these four groups in this mountaintop-removal mining case respe...
Back in the early 1900s and modern-day, in mines the tunnels, shafts and caves weren't always safe to work in. Miners would often be trapped in collapsed shafts resulting in minor and major injuries, maybe even causing fatalities. For example, in the autobiography, Rocket Boys, the coal mine suffers a cave in, killing one along with Homer's dad nearly loosing an
The miners’ strike of 1984-1985 was one the most acrimonious industrial disputes Britain has ever seen. On March 6th the National Coal Board (NCB) announced its intention to close 20 coal pits resulting in the loss of 20,000 jobs, revealing as well the plan to in the long-term close over 70 pits. A yearlong strike followed which saw a time of Mass walk-outs, poverty and violence as mining communities all over the country fought to maintain their employment. Ultimately the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was defeated and the Strike ended on 3rd March 1985 following a NUM vote to return to work. Therefore in this essay I will analyse the strategic plans of both the British Government and the NUM, ultimately providing a judgement as to why the NUM and the miners’ strike failed to achieve its desired goal.
CWP develops in individuals, almost exclusively miners, who are exposed to mixed dust containing coal, silica, kaolin, and mica. Development of CWP generally requires at least 20 years of exposure and depends on various factors including concentration of coal dust, mine configuration, type of coal, mining methods, personal protective measures, and the proportion of other mineral dust contamination.Meyer,A.C
While some mine disasters kill only five people, some kill hundreds, such as the Monongah Nos. 6 and 8, which exploded in 1907, at Monongah, West Virginia, killing 362 people. While most of these people were killed due to the explosion, some deaths were caused by the mine collapsing afterwards, which is where the Miner-Bot 1.0 comes in. To save
Impacts of coal mining are visible by landscapes that lack the beauty of a mountainous backdrop and landscapes that are void of any trees or plants. These areas are left barren by the excavating of the earth in order to reveal the coal hidden underneath (Theilmann, 2015). In conjunction with the impact on the environment, various health issues have arisen, along with the heightened issues of safety. Black lung, a respiratory disease, and mine accidents are responsible for thousands of mine workers being injured or even killed every year. These deaths are a result of suffocation from poisonous gases found within the mines and explosions that lead to the collapsing of mines roofs. The mortality rates of workers in the coal mining industry has one of the highest ranks in the industrial sector of mining (Joyce, 1998). As evident, the destruction left behind by the mining of coal is detrimental to the environment and has a huge impact on the welfare of the mine workers employed by the coal mining
number of pit heads. In case of any accident as given in Table 1, it