Abstract
Whenever I closed my eyes, all I could see was the destruction the explosion had made, and the faces of the miners that were left behind. Eleven bodies were never recovered. (p. 55)
Westray: My Journey from Darkness to Light is coal miner Vernon Theriault’s first-person account of work in the mine, the explosion, and the aftermath, as told by Theriault to his cousin, Marjorie Coady. At 5:30 a.m. on May 9, 1992, Theriault had come out of the Westray mine and was catching some sleep before returning for his next shift. He was awakened by a phone call from his sister-in-law telling him of sirens at the mine. Thinking it was a routine cave-in or injury, he told her not to worry, and he went back to bed to get that extra hour of sleep. He had no idea of the hours of sleep he would miss over the next week as he joined the rescue team going into the mine to look for survivors, and later, bodies of the 28 dead.
The Foord coal seam in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, had hosted at least eight mines over the years and, although it was a thick seam of coal, it was gassy, meaning that the seam released potentially explosive methane. Twenty years after earlier mines had been abandoned, on September 11, 1991, Toronto company Curragh Resources opened the Westray mine in Plymouth. From the start, questions arose regarding safety practices at the mine; there were multiple roof collapses in the first three months of operation.
Not aware of these issues, Theriault thought he could make a better living in the mine than at Good-wear tire where he sometimes made deliveries to the mine. He had training as a welder, applied for work in the mine, and went on a mine tour to see whether he could handle being underground. Miners he met told him that he would be crazy to join them, in spite of the pay and benefits. At the time, Theriault gave them little mind as he was focused on making a better wage and supporting his family.
In retrospect, there were many signs of problems. In February 1992, his crew had the dozer down in the mine to clear out coal dust when the underground mine manager drove up on a tractor with the mine inspector for the provincial government. The manager brusquely ordered them to take the dozer up and out. Once the inspector was gone, they were ordered to take it back down. In spite of management’s orders to the contrary, the dozer was not supposed to be used underground. Two months later, Theriault was asked to work overtime to spray stone dust on the walls and ceiling of the mine to minimize the chance of explosion. The Department of Labour came in for an inspection shortly after that. At that point, Theriault realized that it should have been done every day.
Westray is a story of criminal corporate culture that pushed the boundaries of safety and the law in order to mine coal in a notoriously dangerous seam. Theriault’s life was forever changed by the explosion, his experience as a rescuer, unemployment, difficulty with reading, and medical issues. By getting involved in the investigation after the disaster, Theriault joined with the United Steelworkers to push for legislation to prevent future disasters. By participating in the campaign for Bill C-45, known as the Westray Bill, Theriault found his voice and his passion and became the face of the campaign. The Westray Bill went into effect March 31, 2004, almost twelve years after the disaster. Sporting t-shirts saying “Kill a worker, go to jail,” the United Steelworkers sees Bill C-45 as a tool they can use to hold corporate leadership accountable. Marjorie Coady, who interviewed Theriault as they wrote the book together passed away in September 2019, shortly after Theriault returned from the USW Health and Safety Conference in Pittsburgh.
This book is a vital and emotional read for anyone who believes in the importance of protecting worker health and safety and holding those who kill a worker accountable.