The Hurricane Creek mine disaster occurred on December 30, 1970, shortly after noon and resulted in the deaths of 39 men.
As was often pointed out in coverage of the disaster, it occurred a year to the day after the passage of the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969.
Recovery was complicated by the fact that a foot of snow fell on the rural mountain roads at the time of the accident.
[1] Thirty-four infractions had been reported in its first three months of operation but they had been fixed, and the mine had been shut down for 3 days in June due to safety concerns.
[3] The conditions would have allowed the bureau to declare the mine "excessively hazardous" and conduct inspections every 10 days but they chose not to do so.
The understaffed agency had, at the time of the Hurricane Creek disaster, failed to issue a single fine despite citing thousands of safety violations at dozens of coal mines.
[2] On December 30, 1970, the 38 day shift workers entered the 36" tall mine shaft at 7 A.M. and crawled to a depth of about 2,400 feet.
[5] President Richard Nixon quickly issued a statement offering sympathy to family and friends of the deceased miners, and promised to take "every appropriate step" to prevent future disasters.
[1] In an interview with correspondent Bill Walker of CBS News[citation needed], the foreman's widow was asked if she held the Finleys responsible for killing her husband.
Her husband, she went on to reveal, had spoken of the mine violations both the owner and federal government had let slide in the name of expediency and jobs.