California University display details Quecreek mine ‘miracle’ rescue
CALIFORNIA – As if drawn to a shrine, many passersby at California University of Pennsylvania’s Natali Student Center flocked to see the capsule used in what many label the miraculous rescue of nine miners in Somerset County last year. They also got to see a display of pictures detailing the rescue at the Quecreek coal mine and hear stories from people directly involved in it.
Ed Chunta and John Gibson, both of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), staffed the display, which also included information to educate young children about the dangers of abandoned mines. The display was part of Cal U’s annual Science Olympiad competition, which hosted 59 junior high and high schools from southwestern Pennsylvania.
People were amazed by the photos, the stories and the capsule and also with Chunta and Gibson, who both took part in the rescue mission.
The nine miners were working July 24 when they apparently drilled into an adjacent abandoned mine that had been filled with millions of gallons of water. The water flooded their escape route and trapped them 240 feet underground, where they remained for 77 hours until their rescue.
Some questioned whether the miners were alive, although rescuers reported hearing tapping noises from the depths of the earth.
Chunta and Gibson talked about the first time the rescuers heard the miners’ pounding, which was proof of life. They described the water levels, the efforts taken to pump out the water and get the level down, the holes drilled into the ground for communication and the eventual rescue.
And they told stories of volunteers, some just local residents hoping to help, who were on standby the entire time.
“There’re a lot of different stories you might not have heard,” said Chunta, as he talked about a man who sat as close to the rescue site as security would allow, hoping to help, until finally, after many hours, his equipment, including a microphone, was used to communicate with the trapped miners.
“That’s the kind of thing that a lot of people did there. He didn’t have to be there, but he was trying to help – and he did.”
Those who stopped to listen were in awe as the two shared stories about the rescue and the cooperation they received from people.
Passersby remembered the rescue and also shared stories about where they were when they heard the news of the miners’ entrapment and then the rescue. Terry Burns, a Gateway School District bus driver, said he was returning home from vacation when he heard the news of the rescued mine workers.
“It’s an amazing thing. I wanted to go to the site. It’s just very interesting. I watched most of the rescue on TV and kept up with everything,” Burns said.
“I really liked seeing the cage (the rescue capsule).”
Some posed for pictures in front of the yellow metal capsule that was used to retrieve the miners.
The storyboard included pictures that showed the rescue from the beginning of the flooding to the pulling out of the miners.
The pictures showed the water levels covering the mine portals, the many fellow mine workers who volunteered to help with the rescue, the drilling of the holes in the ground used for communication and the capsule, with a miner inside, being pulled from the ground.
“This was cool to see,” said Bear Rocks resident Margaret (Peggy) Hall, who was at Cal U as part of the Science Olympiad. The capsule intrigued Hall, who examined it as she talked to Chunta and Gibson about the rescue.
“It was cool to touch a piece of history. I had to touch it. I’m a hands-on type of person,” Hall said.
But Hall was most intrigued with Chunta and Gibson and those who were a part of the rescue mission.
“Thank God they (the miners) survived, but I don’t think enough was said about the guys who rescued them. …These are the guys. It’s not that I’m not sympathetic to the miners. I can’t imagine the panic they must have felt and what they had to go through in that mine.
“But, you have to think about the rescuers, too, dealing with all that stress, working against the clock to save lives. It was a great combined effort, a great personal effort,” Hall said.
Both Chunta and Gibson said assisting with the mine rescue is an experience they will not soon forget.
They said the support given from the local residents, fire departments and service groups was phenomenal.
“There were so many people there to help, doing so many different things,” Gibson said. “There were a lot of people involved. It was like America coming together. People were so interested and are still interested in the story.”
“It was the best experience of my life,” added Chunta.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of mine recoveries, and this is the only one where everyone survived. People don’t usually make it through fire and flooding in mines. It was a good feeling to know that someone was alive.”
Chunta, who has participated in mine rescues for 26 years, said it is so uncommon for anyone to survive mine accidents that he almost has been conditioned to expect the worse when going out to a rescue. In those cases, rescues become recoveries, he said.
But, Gibson said that although he knew from the start the probability of the nine miners’ survival was low, he knew in his heart that the men would survive.
“A lot of times you go out and you already know it will be a recovery effort, but, in this case, I didn’t feel like they were gone. I had a good feeling that this might be one time that it might be OK.”