Centralia No. 5

Centralia No. 5

[Student’s Name] [Course Title]

[Date] [Professor’s Name]

In March of 1947, a mine exploded in Centralia, Illinois, killing 111 miners and ultimately leading to the majority of the residents to abandon the town itself (Guss, 2007). The events and conditions previous to the incident were filled with warning signs. Inspections were made, hazards were observed and acknowledge, and yet nothing changed to avoid disaster. Federal officials, state employed safety officials, and the mining company itself all were made aware of the dangers present and the potential destruction that could result, but conditions failed to improve. Fault can be placed on many different people for many different reasons, but special attention must be paid to the public safety official responsible for the mines in Centralia.

Driscoll Scanlan was the state mine inspector for the district containing Centralia in the years leading up to and including the explosion. For the most part, Scanlan did the work he was elected to do. He inspected the mines in his district, accurately evaluated the level of safety and hazards present, informed the responsible authorities of his findings and strongly urged them to correct the present flaws and to adhere to federal law which requires mines to comply with specific safety regulations (Fanning, 2007). But as a state mine inspector, Scanlan had an obligation to ensure the safety of the public. And in that he failed.

As previously mentioned, it would not be fair to scrutinize the actions and consequences of Scanlan alone, since there are many parties at fault at so many steps in the events leading up to the explosion. There were numerous attempts made by Scanlan to make the company improve safety in the mine, but every time he was met with resistance. In November of 1944, after safety concerns made by the United Mine Workers Of America went ignored by the company, Scanlon inspected the mine and found dust and dirt were causing the...