November 20, 2019

Manchin Statement On 51st Anniversary Of The Farmington Mine Disaster

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) issued the following statement honoring the 78 miners who were killed in the Consolidation Coal Company’s No. 9 Mine Tragedy 51 years ago in Farmington, West Virginia.

“Today we honor the 78 brave miners who were lost in the Consolidation Coal Company’s No. 9 mine tragedy. It was November 1968 when Farmington No. 9 exploded. My uncle, neighbor and several high school classmates were in the mine at the time of the explosion. For days everyone I had ever known sat around the company store waiting for updates about the fate of our loved ones. The look on my mother’s face when she found out her younger brother lost his life in that mine will stay with me forever.

“Fifty-one years later, we continue to grieve, remember those we lost and pray for their families. I have always said that even one life lost while on the job is one too many. It is simply not acceptable to me that any of our miners fail to return home to family and loved ones at the end of a shift. Since my time as Governor, I have been dedicated to improving safety conditions in our mines, so that tragedies like these and others, never happen again. I hope today that every West Virginian will remember the 78 miners that died that day and pray for their families.”