Scotia Mine
The Scotia Mine began operations in 1962 and was a subsidiary of the Blue Diamond Coal Company. It was located in the Oven Fork Community of Letcher County, about fourteen miles northeast of the town of Cumberland (Harlan County, Kentucky).[1]
The Scotia Mine was was originally opened by nine slope entries into the Imboden coalbed, which averages 72 inches in thickness locally. The slope entries were developed into the coalbed and inclined due to the pitching characteristics of the coalbed from its outcrop.[2]
In 1975, an additional opening in the form of a concrete lined 13½ foot diameter shaft, 376 feet deep, was raise-bored near the face areas of Northeast Main. The lining of the shaft was completed July 21, 1975, and work was begun to install an automatic elevator. On March 9, 1976, such work had not been completed and the shaft was being used only as an intake air opening.[2] Of 310 employees, 275 worked underground on two coal producing shifts and one maintenance shift per day, 5 days a week. Approximately 2,500 tons of coal were produced daily on six active sections, consisting of five continuous mining sections and one conventional mining section.[2]
The last Federal inspection of the entire mine was completed on February 27, 1976.On March 8, 1976, on the evening shift, a Federal Coal Mine Inspector conducted a Health and Safety Technical Inspection of 2 Left Section off 2 Southeast Main.[2]
On March 9, 1976, at approximately 11:45 a.m., an explosion caused by coal dust and gasses rocked the Scotia mine. Two days later, a second explosion happened. The first explosion killed fifteen miners; the second killed eleven. Investigators believed that the explosions were caused by methane gasses that were ignited by a spark caused by a battery-powered locomotive or another electric device. A lack of ventilation figured prominently in the accidents.[1]
The explosions at Scotia led to the passage of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.[3] This law strengthened the previously passed 1969 act,[4] which, at the time, had been the most significant legislation on mine safety ever adopted in the U.S. The 1977 law also moved the Mine Safety and Health Administration from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Labor.[5]
Historical Marker #2314 in Letcher County notes the tragic mine explosions that occurred at Scotia Mine in 1976. The accidents are noted as being one of the worst mine disasters in U.S. history.
- Glenn Barker, 29 years-old
- Dennis Boggs, 27 years-old
- Everett Scott Combs, 29 years-old
- Virgil Coots, 24 years-old
- Don Creech, 30 years-old
- Larry David McKnight, 28 years-old
- Earl Galloway, 44 years-old
- David Gibbs, 30 years-old
- Robert Griffith, 24 years-old
- John Hackworth, 29 years-old
- J. B. Holbrook, 43 years-old
- Kenneth B. Kiser, 45 years-old
- Roy McKnight, 31 years-old
- Lawrence Peavy, 25 years-old
- Carl Polly, 47 years-old
- Richard M. Sammons, 55 years-old
- Tommy Ray Scott, 24 years-old
- Ivan Gail Sparkman, 34 years-old
- James Sturgill, 46 years-old
- Jimmy W. Sturgill, 20 years-old
- Monroe Sturgill, 40 years-old
- Kenneth Turner, 25 years-old
- Willie D. Turner, 25 years-old
- Grover Tussey, 45 years-old
- Denver Widner, 31 years-old
- James Williams, 23 years-old
Representations in Pop Culture
In Literature
- E.B. Allen's 1976 poem Ballad of the Shadow Miner.[8]
In Television
- 40 Years Later: The Scotia Mine Disaster, WYMT Television.[9]
- ^ a b Talbott, Tim. "Scotia Mine Disaster". ExploreKYHistory. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ a b c d "Scotia Mine Explosion". usminedisasters.miningquiz.com. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ "1977 – Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) created | Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)". www.msha.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ "1969 – Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act passed | Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)". www.msha.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ Time, Ben A. Franklin Special to The New York (1976-07-29). "House Votes Mine Safety Shift To Dept. of Labor From Interior (Published 1976)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ Times, Wayne King Special to The New York (1976-11-20). "Bodies of 11, Entombed in Mine 253 Days, Recovered (Published 1976)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ "Miners Killed in the Scotia Mine Explosions". usminedisasters.miningquiz.com. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ "Ballad of the The Shadow Miner". www.dmm.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
- ^ "40 Years Later: The Scotia Mine Disaster". WYMT Television. March 9, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
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