Rescue remembered

By CHIP MINEMYER

The (Johnstown) Tribune-Democrat

SOMERSET, Pa.

Mark Schweiker said a single principle guided efforts to free nine miners trapped deep in the Quecreek Mine 15 years ago this week.

“We never forgot that this was about reuniting nine families,” the former Pennsylvania governor said in an interview with The Tribune-Democrat.

Schweiker was on site during the rescue operation that began after Quecreek miners broke through stone into an uncharted mine shaft on the night of July 24, 2002 – releasing millions of gallons of water and trapping them in their work area – and for the moment when the last of the miners was lifted to safety early on the morning of July 28, 2002.

That same spirit will prevail when Schweiker returns to the Somerset County mine site to remember the bravery of the miners and the determination of the rescuers who drilled through more than 230 feet of rock to pull nine men to safety.

Schweiker will speak at the Quecreek site Thursday. A Community Celebration Day will take place Saturday.

“We’re like family,” Schweiker said of his connection with the Somerset region and the miners.

“I think, even 15 years later – aside from the spectacular events that we witnessed there – it’s about gratitude and the kinds of emotions you experience at a reunion,” he said.

“There will be a lot of hugs, the emotional aspect. You’re happy to see the kids and grandkids – even as you realize that all of this could have been pre-empted had we not been successful that night.”

The Quecreek Mine rescue was characterized by stretches of hope followed by periods of frustration and even despair.

The state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration coordinated the rescue effort, which involved drilling a hole 30 inches in diameter from the surface down to the trapped miners.

Simultaneously, compressed air was piped into the mine area while pumps were used to remove some of the water that surrounded the miners.

Drilling began about 6 p.m. July 25 – the day after the miners were trapped. About 2:30 the following morning, the drill bit broke – forcing rescuers to start another shaft nearby.

The governor and the rescue team had agreed to a “families-first policy” during the operation, he said. That meant any news would go to the miners’ family members and then to the press.

The workers’ wives, parents and children were gathered at the nearby Sipesville fire station.

“We made a pledge to the families that – whether there was new information or no updates – we would send somebody down there every hour,” Schweiker said. “I took it upon myself to go down there and tell the families that we had to stop the drilling in that first shaft.

“That was probably the low point for the families.”

Eventually, drilling resumed on the first shaft, even as work continued on the second shaft.

The progress was slow, and emotions ran high as the process stretched through a third day – Friday – and into the weekend.

“About 50 or 60 hours into this, there could have been a feeling of despair – given what miners and their families had been through over the years and had come to expect from such situations,” Schweiker said, “that not all were going to come up, and that they should get themselves ready for that.

“But we were not going to yield to that.”

David La Torre was the governor’s press secretary, and accompanied Schweiker on his first visit with the families.

“He handled that room perfectly,” La Torre recalled. “I still get goosebumps thinking about it. He walked into the middle of the room, stopped and looked every person in the eye. Then he let them know he was on site to do whatever he could do.

“He made no promises, other than that he would get them the information they wanted, and that the Commonwealth would do whatever it could to save their loved ones.”

By late Saturday night, July 27, drillers at the second shaft knew they were getting close to breaking through into the chamber where the nine miners were waiting.

That moment came about 10:15 p.m., and by 11 p.m. people on the surface had connected with the miners with a phone lowered down the shaft.

Schweiker confirmed at 11:30 p.m. that all nine were alive.

From 1 a.m. to 2:35 a.m., the miners were lifted one by one to the surface and taken to area hospitals for treatment.

“You could make a case that losing the drill bit for a while was a godsend,” Schweiker said.

“The water level in the mine was still pretty high on Saturday. Had we not been slowed and had to start the second shaft ... it allowed the pumps to suck out more and more water as the hours went on and on.”