Sbaffoni calls Quecreek movie believable
Joseph A. Sbaffoni does not need a movie to spark memories of the day in July when nine men emerged alive after they spent 77 hours trapped in the flooded Quecreek mine in Somerset County. “There’s not a day that goes by that Quecreek doesn’t come up in conversation or that I don’t think about what happened. It will probably be on my mind the rest of my life,” he said.
Sbaffoni was there first-hand for the rescue and became a recognizable figure as a state official often engaged for comments by the media on the scene of that dramatic event.
The Disney movie “The Pennsylvania Miners’ Story” aired Sunday night on ABC. Sbaffoni was not a character in the movie that featured an account of what the miners went through while they were trapped underground and the reactions of their families as they waited in a local firehall for their rescue.
Sbaffoni, who watched the movie with his wife in their Fairchance home, said the movie was believable, although events were obviously abbreviated for the sake of television.
“I think it was exactly the way it was depicted and it was geared to the miners and their families. I thought the underground part portrayed pretty much in their words and minds what they went through. It went so fast and they tried to cram it all in,” he said.
Sbaffoni is bituminous mine safety chief with the Bituminous Mine Safety Division of the state Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Deep Mine Safety. He served at the Quecreek mine incident as a technical adviser to Gov. Mark Schweiker and helped brief reporters and the miners’ families on the progress of the rescue.
He said he was not involved in the making of the movie but recognized some comments he had made to reporters that were included. For example, he said WTAE Channel 4 news reporter Wendy Bell, who portrayed herself, said at one point that state officials said miners are a special breed.
Sbaffoni had little free time in the months after the July 27 rescue, receiving recognition for his efforts. He said things have slowed down with a request here and there to do a presentation about the rescue that he said was a miracle, not only because the miners all got out alive but no one above ground was hurt in the process.
“It was so good. Everything went how it had to go to rescue them,” he said. “Aside from the negative of the water busting through, it was all positive.”
Sbaffoni said the Bureau of Deep Mine Safety’s job is to provide for the health and safety of Pennsylvania’s miners. He said the successful outcome at Quecreek was a visible example of the bureau’s purpose.
“You never really know the result of what you do – how many lives you save or accidents you prevent,” he said.
The Associated Press reported the nine miners had a private viewing of the movie in Somerset with their wives and gave “nine tumbs up” to the story.
Miner Mark Popernack was quoted as saying the movie was “absolutely fantastic and realistic. It was difficult to watch at times because it was so authentic and so real.”
“It was very touching. It brought back a lot of memories for us,” said Leslie Mayhugh, wife of miner Blaine Mayhugh.
Disney, according to Associated Press, paid each of the miners $150,000 for exclusive movie and book rights and their attorneys are pursuing endorsement deals and other income sources.
Meanwhile, a DEP preliminary investigation blamed inaccurate mine maps for the incident and an investigation by the federal Mine Safety Health Administration continues.
DEP gave Black Wolf Coal Co. a permit to resume mining at the site and the Quecreek mine reopened Dec. 21. None of those trapped there in July joined the 50 employees who returned to work.