A Government’s Role in the Centralia Disaster
Crystal Mack
Strayer University
PAD 500 – Modern Public Administration
Professor Timothy Smith
October 22, 2012

On March 25, 1947, there was a tragic blast in a small town of Centralia, IL. This blast took the lives of 111 men working to support their families during World War II. I will identify and explain four logistical alternatives Scanlan could have addressed, Analyze and discuss Scanlan’s motivation toward the Constitution (the law), bureaucracy (as a public administrator responsible to the public), and obligation and discuss different actions that Scanlan could have taken.
One logistical alternative that Scanlan could have addressed would have been to develop some kind of fail safe or escape route. Having these plans could have in some way save or improve the hazardous environment for the coal miners. However Scanlan had inspected the mine several times in the years before the explosion. At the end of each inspection he sent his report to the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals. In many of these reports, he noted that the mine was highly explosive due to coal dust buildup. In April 1945, Scanlan told the director of state mining board, that he had to shut down the mine or clean it because of it being extremely dangerous.
By having an alternate route, this would have given the coal miners another way out or at least preserve their lives until they could be helped. A self escape strategy should have addressed the equipping and training of the miners to be able to self escape under adverse and hazardous conditions in the coal mine and also how they help others escape a hazardous condition (Fenning & Zhongling, 2010). Designated escape ways, efficient ventilation and basic escape training should have been looked at since these were already outlined down in the Federal Mine Code legislation