Cord Byrd: “it was 35 years ago, at 5:30 a.m. on November 20, 1968, that a gas and dust explosion occurred at Consul No. 9 coal mine…”

“it was 35 years ago, at 5:30 a.m. on November 20, 1968, that a gas and dust explosion occurred at Consul No. 9 coal mine near Farmington WV. The force of the explosion rippled through the west side of the mine, igniting mine fires and additional explosions, blocking exits and shutting down escape routes. Large amounts of smoke, varying in color from black, gray, white, and yellow exhausted from the air shafts, with major explosions shooting flames over 100 feet into the air. After 10 days, the search and rescue operation was halted and the air shafts were sealed to put out the underground fires. Of the 99 miners underground at the time of the blast, the explosion took the lives of 78 coal miners, 19 of whom are still entombed underground. In response, the Congress passed the most comprehensive mine health and safety legislation to date--the 1969 Mine Act. The anguish caused by the Farmington disaster was expressed in the statement of findings and purpose of that legislation: . . . the first priority and concern of all in the coal mining industry must be the health and safety of its most precious resource--the miner.”