West Virginia Coal Mines

The term "mine disaster" historically applies to mine accidents claiming five or more lives

• The Worst Coal Disasters of the Past 55 Years:
  

  Year         Type of Disaster       Mine                        Killed
  1940         Explosion              Pond Creek Mine, WV          91
  1940         Explosion              Willow Grove Mine, OH        72
  1943         Explosion              Smith Mine, MT               74
  1947         Explosion              Centralia Mine, IL          111
  1951         Explosion              Orient No. 2, IL            119
  1968         Explosion              Farmington, WV               78
  

  
  
• The Three Worst coal Mine Disasters in U.S. History
  

  Year    Type of Disaster         Mine                  Killed
  1907     Explosion               Monongah, WV          362
  1909     Explosion               Cherry Mine, IL       259
  1913     Explosion               Stag Canon, NM        263
  

  
  
• The Five Worst Metal and Nonmetal Mine Disasters of The Past 50 Years
  

  Year     Type of Disaster    Mine                       Product         KIlled
  1942      Explosion          Sandts Eddy, PA           Limestone        31
  1943      Explosion          Foyd Mine, TN             Copper           9
  1943      Explosion          Cane Creek, UT            Potash           18
  1972      Fire               Sunshine Mountain, ID     Silver           91
  1968      Fire               Cargill, Belle Isle, LA   Salt             21              
  

  
  
• The Three Worst Metal and Nonmetal Mine Disasters in U.S. History
  

  Year    Type of Disaster    Mine                       Product         KIlled
  1917    Fire               Granite Mountain, MT        Copper           163
  1926    Flood              Barnes Hecker, MI           Iron             51
  1972    Fire               Sunshine Mountain, ID       Silver           91
  

• Recent Mine Disasters
  

  Year    Type of Disaster    Mine                       Product         KIlled
  1976    2 Explosions       Scotia Mine, KY             Coal              26
  1979    Explosion          Belle Isle, LA              Salt              5
  1980    Explosion          Ferrell No. 1, WV           Coal              5
  1981    Explosion          Dutch Creek No. 1, CO       Coal              15
  1983    Explosion          McClure Mine, VA            Coal              7
  1984    Fire               Wilberg Mine, UT            Coal              27
  1989    Explosion          William Station, KY         Coal              10
  1992    Explosion          Norton No. 3, VA            Coal              8
  

• Disasters Involving Women In the Mines

  On October 2, 1979, Marilyn McCusker was killed while working inside a deep coal mine in Pennsylvania. She was the first woman coal miner killed on the job. It had taken her 2 years and a sex discrimination suit in federal court to get a job as a coal miner. She was one of 144 fatalities in the mines that year. In later years, women perished in both the McClure and Wilberg disasters.

• Declining Mining Accidents

  Over the years, the annual numbers of mining deaths and rates of injuries(measuring numbers of injuries against hours worked) have declined. Today and in the future, preventing mine accidents and disasters remains the utmost priority of management, labor, and government.