[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 19, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E66-E67]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KNOX MINE DISASTER

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                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 1999

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues the fortieth anniversary of an infamous day in 
Pennsylvania's Eleventh Congressional District, the Knox Mine Disaster. 
This Sunday, a state historical marker will be unveiled to commemorate 
the tragedy. I am pleased to have been asked to participate in this 
event.
  January of 1959 brought unseasonably high temperatures and drenching 
rains to the Wyoming Valley. The Susquehanna River began to surge 
wildly and reached near flood stage by the evening of January 21. Most 
area residents were worried about their homes and businesses and gave 
little thought to the potential disaster underground. Miners at the 
Knox Coal Company's River Slope mine in Luzerne County had expressed 
fears for weeks about the conditions at the mine, but their complaints 
fell on deaf ears. On the morning of January 22, seventy-five miners 
headed for work in the May Shaft and six miners headed to the River 
Slope. The six laborers soon summoned a veteran miner to hear the 
shrill cracking sounds of the ceiling props. As he stepped into the 
mine to investigate, the roof of the mine gave way and water poured 
into the mine. The miners scrambled out of the mine to safety and 
quickly reported the flooding to mine officials who ordered evacuation 
of all adjoining shafts.
  Thirty-three of the miners quickly escaped the churning waters as the 
river took over the mine, but forty-five men remained trapped below as 
the river swirled into the breach. Thirty-three miners eventually made 
their way up an abandoned air shaft located a few hundred feet upriver 
from the breach. Twelve men remained missing.
  Mr. Speaker, hope for these twelve brave miners endured for several 
days as family members kept vigil on the river bank. Eventually, 
methane gas began to flow from the mine and the officials had no choice 
but to end the rescue attempt. Each of the survivors had his story of 
escape and told the stories of those who did not.

[[Page E67]]

  For sixty-four hours after the disaster, the river poured more than 
two and a half million gallons of water into the shafts each minute. 
The cave-in allowed more than ten billion gallons of river water to 
surge underground. For three days, crews pushed, pulled, and hoisted 
fifty ton railroad cars into the void. They added four hundred one-ton 
coal cars and at least twenty-five thousand cubic yards of dirt and 
rocks. Finally, the giant hole was plugged. Pumping began to save the 
other shafts and search teams were dispatched to look for bodies.
  Mr. Speaker, the Knox Mine Disaster was the beginning of the end of 
anthracite coal mining in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Officials 
eventually discovered the company had illegally dug beneath the river 
bed which extended far beyond legal mining boundaries. No proper 
surveying had been done and although industry standard was thirty-five 
feet of rock cover, the miners had followed company orders and quarried 
up to a mere six feet below the river. Knox Coal Company had ignored 
orders from federal inspectors to cease operations. Several company 
officials were indicted. Although deep mining continued in the 
Northeast into the 1970's, the high cost of resulting new safety 
regulations coupled with declining demand eventually ended deep mining 
in the northern coal field.
  Mr. Speaker, the Knox Mine Disaster is a turning point in the history 
of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The image of the grieving families 
huddled along the banks of the river, exhausted survivors climbing out 
of the earth and huge train cars being heaved into the whirlpool is 
still fresh in the minds of most of the area's residents. The disaster 
is commemorated in the local press every year and the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania will dedicate a historical marker this year. I join with 
the families of both the victims and the survivors of this horrible 
disaster in commemorating their bravery and remembering their 
sacrifice.

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