Robena memorial service to be held Dec. 6
A memorial service will be held Dec. 6 to honor the miners who died 54 years ago in an explosion at U.S. Steel Corp.’s Robena Mine No. 3.
The United Mine Workers will hold the service at 11 a.m. at the Robena Monument on Route 21 in Monongahela Township, just west of Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station.
The service will be conducted by UMWA District 2 and Local 1980, and it is held each year to honor the 37 miners who died in one of Greene County’s worst mining disasters.
The keynote speaker will be UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts. Also scheduled to speak is Dan Kane, UMWA international secretary-treasurer.
About 1 p.m. on Dec. 6, 1962, an explosion ripped through Robena Mine, starting from a point about 650 feet below ground and about two miles from the base of the Frosty Run Shaft.
The force of the explosion was so strong it knocked down men who were working more than two miles away.
One hundred and seventy men were in the mine at the time of the explosion. The 37 miners who died were members of a continuous miner crew working in the 8 left 4 main section.
The explosion was believed to have been caused by a buildup of methane gas, resulting from a temporary shutdown of ventilation fans. The gas was ignited by a spark from mine equipment.
The explosion at Robena Mine was the worst mine disaster to have occurred in Greene County since May 19, 1928, when an explosion at Mather Mine took the lives of 195 miners.