Uncovering - West Virginia University

Journalism professor seeks answers
to mine disaster By ChRiSta VinCEnt
O
On Nov. 20, 1968, an explosion at the
Consolidation Coal Company’s No. 9 mine
in Farmington, W.Va., captured the attention
of the national media.
In the days following the tragedy, news crews
converged on the small town to cover the
story, making it the first major mine disaster
to be nationally televised. Americans watched
for days as family members and friends of the
trapped miners prayed for their safety.
Seventy-eight men never returned home
from the mine, and loved ones never knew
exactly why the mine exploded.
Forty years later, SOJ Assistant Professor
Bonnie Stewart uncovered a memo that may
help to explain why the men didn’t leave the
mine before the explosion. The memo states
that a safety alarm for one of the ventilation
fans in the mine had been deliberately
disabled. When the fan stopped running that
morning, the alarm did not sound.
Stewart found the memo while conducting
research for a book about the disaster, and
her reporting led to a story on National
Public Radio (NPR).
Stewart mentioned the memo to Scott Finn,
news and public affairs director for West Virginia
Public Radio. The two worked together
to produce a radio broadcast for NPR’s “All
Things Considered” and a text story for
NPR’s website. The pieces were featured on
Nov. 19, 2008, the eve of the disaster’s 40th
anniversary.
“There were bad things going on in that mine
in the days prior to the explosion,” Stewart
said. “The state probably could have brought
criminal charges against the company and
didn’t.”
Stewart also produced a multimedia piece
for the NPR website. The feature, “One Son’s
Loss,” shares the story of Judge Jim Matish,
who was only 15 when he lost his father in
the disaster.
In the audio interview, Matish says his
father told the family the weekend before
the explosion that the mine was in the worst
shape he had ever seen. He says Stewart’s
work has helped him to reflect on how the
disaster shaped his life and how her work
could impact the future of mining.
“Bonnie has been able to confirm a lot of the
rumors and stories that have been told, by
her getting people to open up and talk about
Smoke pours from the Llewellyn mine shaft after the Consolidation No. 9 mine in Farmington, W.Va., explodes on
Nov. 20, 1968.
their knowledge,” said Matish. “Hopefully,
the evidence that she finds will be able to
make the coal mines safer for all miners and
their families.”
Stewart said her investigation is not over. She
wants to find out why the memo was never
used to hold the coal company accountable
and why it took 20 years for the federal
government to file an official report on the
disaster.
Stewart is continuing her reporting on the
memo and the explosion and plans to include
further details in a book she is writing about
the disaster.
“This is a very important story because it
explains why 78 men died,” said Stewart.
“For their families, it means a lot.”
Submitted photo
More on the Web
The story and multimedia piece are
available at http://www.npr.org
Submitted photo
Assistant Professor Bonnie Stewart interviews Judge Jim
Matish, who lost his father in the 1968 mine explosion.
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