Springhill Mining Disaster

The Springhill Mining Disaster is the term often used to refer to three separate Canadian mining disasters which occurred in 1891, 1956, and 1958 in different mines within the Springhill coal field, in close proximity to the town of Springhill in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.

The mines in the Springhill Coal Field were established in the 19th century and by the early 1880s were being worked by the Cumberland Coal and Railway Company and the Springhill and Parrsboro Coal and Railway Company. These entities merged in 1884 to form the Cumberland Railway and Coal Company whose investors were bought out by the conglomerate Dominion Steel Company or DOSCO in 1910.

Following the third disaster in 1958, DOSCO shut their mininng operations in Springhill and they were never reopened. Today the mines, among the deepest works in the world and filled with water, provide Springhill's industrial park with a source of geothermal heat.

Interestingly, Irish rock stars U2 brought attention to the 1958 disaster when they performed Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger's "The Ballad of Springhill" as part of their world-famous The Joshua Tree Tour playlist in 1987.

1891 Explosion

Springhill's first mining disaster, the 1891 Explosion, occurred at approximately 12:30pm AST on Saturday, February 21, 1891 in the Number 1 and Number 2 collieries which were joined by a connecting tunnel at the 1300 foot level (below the surface) when an explosion caused by accumulated coal dust swept through both shafts killing 125 miners and injuring dozens more.

Rescue efforts throughout that afternoon and evening were made easier by the lack of fire in No. 1 and No. 2 but in the end 57 women were widowed and 169 children lost their fathers. The scale of the disaster was unprecedented in Nova Scotian or Canadian mining history and the subsequent relief funds saw contributions from across the country and the British Empire, including Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

A subsequent board of inquiry determined that sufficient gas detectors in working order had been present in the 2 collieries, however the ignition source of the explosion was never determined, despite investigators having pinpointed its general location.

1956 Explosion

The 1956 Explosion occurred on November 1, 1956 when a mine train hauling a load of fine coal dust up to the surface of the 25-year old Number 4 colliery to remove it from the pithead encountered a heavy flow of ventilation air being forced down the shaft by fans on the surface. The flow of air disturbed the dust on the ascending train cars so that it spread throughout the air of the shafts of No. 4. Before the train reached the surface, several of the cars broke loose and ran back down the slope of No. 4, derailing along the way and hitting a power line, causing it to arc and ignite the coal dust at the 5500 foot level (below the surface).

The resulting explosion blew up the slope to the surface where the additional oxygen created a massive blast which levelled the bankhead on the surface - where the coal is hauled out from the mine in an angled shaft into a vertical building (the coal is then dropped into railway cars). The majority of devastation occurred to the surface buildings but many miners were trapped in the shaft with the derailed train cars and fallen support timbers and other items damaged by the explosion.

In a show of heroics, Draegermen (rescue miners) and barefaced miners (no breathing equipment) entered the 6100 foot deep shaft of No. 4 to aid their co-workers. In total 88 miners were rescued and 39 were killed in the explosion. Media coverage of the 1956 explosion was largely overshadowed by the Soviet invasion of Hungary on October 24, 1956 however Canadian and local media did offer extensive coverage of the second Springhill mining disaster.

Following the rescue effort, No. 4 and the connecting No. 2 collieries were sealed for several months to deprive the fires of oxygen. Upon reopening, the bodies of miners who remained below the surface were recovered and the mine returned to operation.

1958 Bump

The 1958 Bump which occurred on October 23, 1958 was the most severe "bump" in North American mining history and devasted the people of Springhill for the casualties which ensued, and devastated the town for the mines - the town's economic lifeblood - would never reopen following the disaster.

A "bump" is caused when coal is totally removed from a strata and the resulting geological stresses upon surrounding bedrock (shale, sandstone, etc. - in most coal-bearing strata) can cause the surrounding pillars of the galleries to suddenly and catastrophically disintegrate and the shaft collapses.

The No. 2 colliery was one of the deepest mines in the world and extended 14,200 feet below the surface in a massive labyrinth of galleries off the main shafts. In the case of the No. 2 colliery, the mining techniques were changed 20 years previously from "room and pillar" to "long wall retreating" after reports were published which documented the danger that the former technique contributed to the occurrence of the "bump" phenomenon.

On October 23 a small bump occurred at 7:00pm ADT during the evening shift but was ignored as this was a somewhat common occurrence. However just over an hour later at 8:06pm ADT an enormous bump "severely impacted the middle of the three walls that were being mined and the ends of the four levels nearest the walls."

The bump spread as three distinct shock waves, resembling a small earthquake throughout the region, alerting residents on the surface for a wide area to the disaster. Draeger teams and teams of barefaced miners entered the No. 2 colliery to begin the rescue effort. The rescue teams encountered survivors at the 13,400 foot level walking or limping toward the surface. Gas released by the bump was encountered in increasing concentrations at the 13,800 foot level where the ceiling had collapsed and rescuers were forced to work down shafts that were in partial state of collapse or were blocked completely by debris.

Any miners who weren't covered either in side galleries or some other shelter were immediately crushed during the bump, the coal faces having been completely destroyed. By 4:00am October 24, 1958 75 of the survivors were on the surface. Rescue teams continued working but the number of rockfalls and amount of debris slowed progress.

Meanwhile the Canadian and international news media had made their way to Springhill. The disaster actually became famous for being the first major international event to have live television broadcasts (on the CBC). As the world waited and those on the surface kept their vigil, rescuers continued to toil below the surface trying to reach trapped survivors. Teams began to arrive from other coal mines on Cape Breton Island and Pictou County.

After five and a half days (placing it around the morning of Wednesday, October 29, 1958) contact was established with a group of 12 survivors on the other side of a 160 foot rockfall. A rescue tunnel was dug and broke through to the trapped miners at 2:25am AST on Thursday, October 30, 1958.

On Friday, October 30, 1958 the rescue site was visited by various dignitaries including the Premier of Nova Scotia, Robert Stanfield and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh who had been at meetings in Ottawa.

On Sunday, November 1, 1958 an additional group of survivors were found, however there would be no more in the following days. Instead bodies of the dead were hauled out in airtight aluminum coffins on account of the advanced stage of decomposition, accelerated by the earth's heat in the depths of the No. 2 mine at 13,000-14,000 feet below ground.

Of the 174 miners in No. 2 colliery at the time of the bump, 75 were killed and 101 trapped but eventually rescued.

The aftermath of the 1958 Bump had a profound effect on the town but there were some interesting footnotes in which the survivors were poltically and economically exploited:

• In the media crush at the pithead (the shaft entrance at the surface), reporters would rush to speak with survivors, particularly the 2 groups of miners who had been trapped until Thursday and Sunday respectively. In asking one of the miners what he wanted most, he replied "A 7-Up." Following this high-profile media event and unexpected "plug" the 7-Up company hired the miner as a spokesman.
• Another miner was chosen as Canada's "Citizen of the Year".
• Several miners and their rescuers were invited onto the Ed Sullivan Show.
• The Governor of Georgia took advantage of the intense media coverage to promote tourism to his state by offering a group of survivors free vacations to Jekyll Island. However to the segregationist governor's chagrin, one of the rescued miners turned out to be black, resulting in a public relations nightmare.

See also