TAMERA GARRETT
CENTRALIA NO 5.
DR. POPEJOY
PAD 500 MODERN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
APRIL 26, 2013

The Centraila Mine opened in 1907 and remained free of fatal accidents for decades( Denholdt 2010). By the 1940’s mine inspectors began reporting excessive coal dust in the mines and also provided recommendations. In March 25, 1947, the Centralia, Illinois, killing 11 people. The explosion was caused when an under burdened explosive detonation ignited coal dust. The explosion of this mine should not have been a surprise to anyone. Driscoll Scanlan, who was the state mine inspector, notified public sector safety professionals from state and federal agencies of the hazards as a result of inspections. There were also union complaints and letters to state officials. Various officials of mine safety agencies and the mine company were notified on more than one occasion. Scanlan as well as the mine’s union had also pushed to have the hazards corrected The lack of federal and state officials to take action, along with the ignition of built up coal dust, resulted in the death of 111 miners. In 1941 Illinois Governor Dwight Green appointed Driscoll Scanlan, as one of the states 16 mine inspectors. Scanlan was highly recommended by a state representative(Martin,1948) . He was appointed as the Inspector of the district which included Centralia Mine No. 5. State inspectors jobs include making sure mine operators comply with the state mining law(Stillman , 2010). His first inspection of Centraila No. 5 was in 1942. In his first report, his recommendations included cleaning and sprinkling the haulage roads. Scanlan 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. Several of his reports throughout 1942-1944 repeated his previous recomendations. He reported 106 recoine and recommendations including 33 major ones. Martin defines major as a hazard that could result in disaster. The four logical alternatives Scanlan could have addressed were to shut down the mine, file a suit against the government, utilize media outlets and main a personal appearance to the main office and present his finding to the head of the company. Scanlan had the legal right to shut down the mine and although he continued to make reccomendations, his recommendations were never considered. Scanlan could have also utilized the newspapers and made the issue more known in the public to bring awareness to the public. If the public had likely known about the issues and the fact that the miners livers were in danger, there might have been a different outcome. Also, if Scanlan had produced his findings to the head of the company there would have possibly been more action taken into place to prevent the issue from going tragic.