Westray Mine disaster - The Last Shift - the fifth estate

On May 9th 1992 an explosion ripped apart the Westray Coal Mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia killing 26 miners. The Fifth Estate and the Journal co-produced this story about the tragedy. The mine was opened the year before despite misgivings that the geology of the area was unstable and prone to large volumes of methane gas. The Federal Government was reluctant help the private company starting the mine after numerous reports cited geological concerns. But after heavy lobbying the mine opened. From the beginning miners complained of safety issues, rock falls, high methane gas levels and large amounts of coal dust. The company's output and quality of coal were disappointing. Inspectors visited the mine 49 times. Critics claim inspectors didn't take the conditions seriously enough and that the company was negligent. Government officials say it's not at fault. But the miners say even if the mine were to reopen they would never go back.Linden MacIntyre hosts.

[@98KingQuad]

My grandfather was working at Heath Steele mine in Bathurst, New Brunswick at the time of this explosion. He was captain of their mine rescue team and received a medal of bravery for his service at Westray the day of this disaster. Rest In Peace to those 26 miners, gone too soon to the hand of negligence.

[@MetropolisNoir]

Leroy Legere, Minister of Labour at the time, claims he was never aware of any concerns of possible danger. He is lying. Several letters were sent to him warning of the explosive conditions, the inspectors filed in their reports the visual levels of coal dust. This tragedy, the deaths of 26 men, was due to Government greed. Ignoring safety concerns to ensure maximum output.

[@killateddy3632]

Downtownnomesayn True

[@flyinspirals]

Metropolis Noir Of course he was lying. They're lying when they claim not to know their own business.

[@xx5zi]

Not government greed. The greed of the owners of the mine. Those owners had a few corrupt politicians in their pockets

[@madeleine8977]

This made me cry. These men went to work to support their families despite knowing how dangerous it was. I am humbled by these men and the entire accident was preventable.

[@penguingirl03]

thank you CBC for posting this documentary. I was only eight years old when the tragedy happened in Westray Mine. I had grasped that something really sad and dangerous had happened but didn't know details. viewing this as an adult was very shocking and informative.

[@judyvalencia3257]

I'm from the U.S. and I never heard of this. Thank you for posting this. So sorry for these poor people and their families.

[@NovaScotiaNewfie]

Often the only time the US reports Canadian news is if it's diaster. Or if ties in with the US in some way.

[@joeywelby9201]

Hey Judy, look up the OCEAN RANGER...ANOTHER HORRIFIC DAY FOR CANADA!

[@judyvalencia3257]

@Joey Welby Thank You.

[@joeywelby9201]

You are welcome,Judy....Cheers!!!

[@sarahyoungmacdonald2453]

I remember when it happened, I lived just a few kilometers away. The whole house shook, like an earthquake had happened. If you know the area it is ridden with sink holes and poor geology. A mine should never have been opened there. Never forget Westray.

[@NovaScotiaNewfie]

I remember hearing g the news the day it happened in Newfoundland. Now that I live in New Glasgow I often ask my friends here what it felt like etc. I assume most of NG, Stelleraton and Trenton felt the ground shake.

[@scottbeaudry121]

Those in charge of the mine were delusional/greedy. They knew that the miners were working in areas of the mine that had the potential for explosive ranges of methane gas, yet they didn’t seem to care about it. What an outrage !

[@jamiewyatt1862]

Ray savage stated that steel arches should have been set this would have eased the weighting from the strata above its a small price to pay ,but westray put profits before safety my dad worked for British coal they used steel arches and roof bolts but only where practical and the strata held together . Seriously misgivings by the mine owners,it's a shame they didn't listen

[@techteam5396]

I worked underground with the National Coal Board and all the roadways used arch girders.

[@Tony-dk9sx]

Investigative journalism at its best. Nova Scotia needs to scrutinize the opening of the Donkin mine, which will be a highly gassy mine extracting coal beneath the water table... If mine managers with shoddy safety records are running the mine, Donkin will be another disaster waiting to happen... (5-9-16)

[@jamiewyatt1862]

I can't believe they didn't have enough evidence to charge management will wilful negligence

[@jamesbraun9842]

​@@jamiewyatt1862 They probably did. mining companies are known for a. Will do anything to find a way around it. (Lots of passing the blame to others, loop hole exploitation and "forgetfulness " and "miscommunication"

[@MobyDave1583]

Years before the Westray disaster there was a mine in Stellarton called The Albion Mine. It caved in and and they said they would never open it again. Westray was the back door to the Albion.

[@sheronwade5207]

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[@NovaScotiaNewfie]

I'm originally from Newfoundland. Lived in New Glasgow for 11 years. Knew of the Albion but it's vinicity to Westray. We had a sink hole open to the entrance area of the Sobeys head office on Forrd street because its built above old mine shafts.

[@zaizoesclashing7103]

I was 9, New Glasgow is my home town, I remember my old man telling me he was on his way to work (else where) and saw the explosion. I wish there was more done to see if anyone lived and could have been rescued

[@RLKRAILTIES]

I found this story by accident I was researching Canadian mines such as gold mines and how these mine barons make ridiculous money and then I was going into the coal mine section Wikipedia and then saw this coal mine in Nova Scotia and scroll down and 26 miners were killed. My heart stopped. What a sick man who owns that company.

[@krystingrant6292]

I send my condolences light to the families during their time of grief

[@pikeman80]

Great quote at the end. "I don't walk through graveyards. I sure as hell aren't going to go down there". And the mine owners still have their buffet and opulent life.

[@kouldbanyone4983]

Disgraceful. The cynical indifference of those who were charged with ensuring the mine was safe is astounding.

[@DickHead-v8l]

Rich man rolls the dice poor man pays the price

[@jamiewyatt1862]

My dad also stated that methane drainage is essential where volumes are considerably high.improved ventilation and regular stone dusting is a must

[@lukeh8394]

Living in nova scotia, there just isn't many jobs around, even today. If you get a jobs, any job, that pays decent, you take it. These miners knew of the risks and safety issues but continued to work. Today's generation will work hard to get out of work (playing medical systems, stress etc, I've seen it all)

[@DickHead-v8l]

As long as it's poor people dying the government don't GAF. Rich man rolls the dice poorman pays the price

[@charlesreynolds2798]

The guy on the safety committee actually admits on camera that he did not do his job, to wit ensure safety for over a year.

[@zmscott2507]

When the head of labor safety feels no responsibility whatsoever there's a big problem there!

[@Todd1976]

That man looks evil! The first guy to be interviewed.

[@stevesolo16]

You got to love that Mullet haircut. I haven't seen one of those going on 20 years!

[@charlespearson9703]

Stunned_ Never felt that level of disturbing

[@marjoriewillcott4573]

My brother Adonis Dollimont was just home in Nl for his brother's funeral and he related to my husband that it was very unsafe at the Westray mine and that he was moving on to gold mining again. This was just one month. Before the explosion. Unfortunately he didn't have the chance to move on.

[@dpcnreactions7062]

26 people lose their lives and the government says, "Well, that's politics".

[@Tsumami__]

Even a child knows that methane is flammable. I mean really.

[@krystingrant6292]

Goddess Usako okay this makes no sense ridiculous and disgusting of them.

[@packingten]

That owner/manager looks and acts SLIMEY!!😡😡

[@lawrence198169]

Apparently he passed away a couple years ago. He got away with murder. It angers me that he wasn't charged with 26 counts of manslaughter

[@mottthehoople693]

greedy and incompetent management at its very best.Shame the paper shufflers on pit top never ever get hurt or killed...

[@joeywelby9201]

Totally agree,the Deepwater Horizon was also a result of BP cutting corners!

[@somelurker6115]

"The Challenger happened and people still go to space; the Titanic happened and people still go out to sea" ok yeah but people aren't still going out to sea *on the Titanic,* are they? Because that specific ship would be completely unsafe in its current state? Just like this specific mine, which you want to reopen??? How does that argument work smh

[@AnaS-ed5gb]

Shame on those politicians! The least they could do is to apologize, not to justify themselves. What a peace of s_ _ _ !

[@danielknight4967]

whoever was responsible for not making safety a #1 concern should be executed. Or at least "disappeared". Too many at fault for deaths, walk away with no punishment

[@Rosco-P.Coldchain]

The amount of negligence involved doesn’t surprise me when it comes to politicians here but until you start holding these people to account with jail sentences nothing will ever change

[@drahunter213]

The sheer negligence

[@Rosco-P.Coldchain]

15:00 Mullet of The Year Award 🥇

[@Comm0ut]

Non-technical humans should understand they are unfit to make technical choices then recuse themselves or get then USE expert help. The miners themselves chose money over safety too rather than leaving for work elsewhere. The sooner coal mines are closed the sooner that bad choice will cease to be an option. Greed is too powerful to trust coal companies.

[@edr.2642]

Wow May 1992. I wasnt even born back then.

[@VegasLounge]

28:00 "We look at the Challenger disaster and we still go into space..." A fitting example, as the Challenger explosion was another entirely avoidable loss of life caused due to corporate and political interests being more important than listening to the engineers and technicians who were warning of impending disaster.

[@joeywelby9201]

Yes,NASA held a gun to heads of MORTON THIOKOL, because the flight was already behind schedule, and a freakish cold day in Florida!!!

[@gmcinnis6304]

HURRY UP, HURRY UP, HURRY UUP.... that gd safety maird... when is it going to blow over??? no time for that safety stuff. TIME IS $$$$$ and a LOT OF $$$$$$$. deep water horizon drilin' rig in the gulf of texas... 40 days behind, no time to let cement cure for more than 8 hours... now 16 hrs. no time to get more centralizers, a short helicopter ride to neighboring drillin' rig, 17 centralizers will be fine, dont need 25 centralizers, to center the casing in the hole so the cement will not channel up the low side of the hole as the casing lays on the low side of the hole and cement runs up the "high" side of the hole. light weight nitrogen cement so the cement wont break down the formation and all disappear into the formatioin from the excessive weight of cement column (a common practice to lighten cement in weak zones so cement wont all disappear into the loss circulation zone). no cement bond log , saved $130,000 there, cement bond log to make sure that the cement is where it is supposed to be and didnt .. disappear into the formation/channel up the "high"side of the pipe and not completely around the casing in the hole. just little shortcuts to save time/ money, it'll be fine.

[@Yousemimight]

Politicians talking about safety or not in a mine......lol....they flunked geology/biology in adult life and chose economics/manipulation.

[@diyr791]

Do ANY of these companies know how to build a safe mine?!? What abject failures!

[@TheSoloAsylum]

Funny that this never effected anyone with a suit and tie on now did it.

[@charlesreynolds2798]

The only person responsible for your safety is you. Stop work authority has been around for a very long time.

[@mottthehoople693]

obviously no real union on site otherwise these things simply would not have happened.....

[@maysonfulk2968]

They were in the process of organizing with USW when this happened. It never made it to cert. It launched USWs Stop the Killing campaign and lead to the Westray law that states if your company kills a worker, you go to jail.

[@ixlr8677]

he was very suportive of our scheme. he almost said the truth.

[@jamessmith84240]

27:47 He says he believes there will be nothing FOUND... Yea bribes are great

[@killateddy3632]

Doing a report on this if any1 can help me with it?

[@joeywelby9201]

Every disaster that has befallen this planet,can ultimately be traced back to HUMAN ERROR.

[@gmcinnis6304]

DEEP WATER HORIZON... they are called "incidents" now, not "accidents"... as 97.x% of "accidents" are HUMAN ERROR, NOT mechanical failure. Deep Water Horizon rig that was in the Gulf of texas was 40 days behind, $500,000/day rig time. HURRY UP, HURRY UP, HURRY UP to get that expensive DRILLIN' rig off the hole and a cheaper workover rig on the hole to complete the well after final string of casing was run and CEMENTED correctly in the hole and WAIT ON CEMENT (to cure) time... was 8 hours... now 16 hours. BLOW OUT PREVENTORS /closing unit used to close the BOP's didnt work quite right.. but 2 days to pull them up off the sea floor , fix them and send them back down to bottom. that is $1 MILLION $$$ that are not making any $$$$$ drilling ahead/completing the well on alrady 40 days behind... no time for that. it'll be fine.. .til it isnt.

[@thomasmusso1147]

The lot should have been locked up.

[@mikecarson101]

Boom!

[@_.-266]

Government at its finest.1

[@mikemhoon]

You reap the benefits of your job. If that happens to be coal mining, you know the dangers. You’re paid very well or nobody would do it!

[@JohnMHill-oi6rb]

PLEASE ? Is the Westray Disaster being confused by the (much bigger) Springhill disaster?

[@d10games93]

Eyyyyy moby dave

[@diyr791]

Isaiah 3:4

[@davidhoins4588]

Why the alwsys Go to excuse is the mythical sky Wizard used to explain man's failures get a grip

[@richcrann2259]

Life for money,,

[@gmcinnis6304]

since the dawn of time... til the end of time. capitalism is about PROFITS... not for everyone, but the ruling ELITE TOP