FARMINGTON, W.Va. — Sunday marks the 56th anniversary of the Farmington No. 9 Mine tragedy in Marion County that claimed the lives of 78 coal miners.
The event will be held at the Farmington #9 Memorial site off Route 250 in Mannington at 1 p.m.
On November 20, 1968, 78 miners were killed in a series of explosions inside the Consolidation Coal Company operation. Nineteen miners could not be recovered and remain entombed in the mine. The tragedy resulted in the passage of the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969, the first comprehensive mine safety and health legislation passed in Washington D.C.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts will be the keynote speaker. UMWA International Secretary-Treasurer Brian Sanson and UMWA District 31 Vice President Mike Payton will also attend the event.
“This memorial means more to me than you could ever imagine,” UMWA District 31 Vice President Mike Payton said. “Since I started in the mines, I’ve been coming to this memorial service because I echo what President Roberts says in that we can never forget.”
Retired Vice President of UMWA District 31 Mike Caputo said the sacrifices of these miners and families have improved safety conditions for miners across the nation.
“If not for their unfortunate demise here, we would not have the safety regulations and laws that we have in the mining world today,” Caputo said.
The ceremony is a return visit to the burial for some of the families of the 19 miners who could not be recovered each year. The families continue to support miners and attend the ceremony each year, according to Caputo.
“People didn’t forget what their families have been through and the tragedy they went through,” Caputo said. “They are never selfish people, and they always say they come here every year because we need to remember what happened.”
The day is a very personal remembrance for the miners that attend and a wake-up call representing the dangers they face every shift. Payton said the fight for the enforcement of existing laws and work on new measures cannot stop.
“That is the most devastating thing for a coal miner because you can’t help but put yourself in their place,” Payton said. “When you know their families and the devastation it causes, one miner is too many.”