Westray Mine
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pictou County |
| Province | Nova Scotia |
| Country | Canada |
| Coordinates | 45°33′14″N 062°38′44″W / 45.55389°N 62.64556°WCoordinates: 45°33′14″N 062°38′44″W / 45.55389°N 62.64556°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Coal |
| History | |
| Opened | 1991 |
| Closed | 1992 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Curragh Resources |
The Westray Mine was a coal mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Westray was owned and operated by Curragh Resources Incorporated (Curragh Inc.), which obtained both provincial and federal government money to open the mine, and supply the local electric power utility with coal. It opened in September 1991, but closed eight months later when it was the site of an underground methane explosion on May 9, 1992, killing all 26 miners working underground at the time. The week-long attempts to rescue the miners were widely followed by national media until it was obvious there would be no survivors.
About a week later, the Nova Scotia government ordered a public inquiry to look into what caused one of Canada's deadliest mining disasters, and published its findings in late 1997. The report stated that the mine was mismanaged, miners' safety was ignored, and poor oversight by government regulators led to the disaster. A criminal case against two mine managers went to trial in the mid-1990s, but ultimately was dropped by the crown in 1998, as it seemed unlikely that a conviction could be attained. Curragh Resources went bankrupt in 1993, partially due to the disaster.
117 miners became unemployed almost immediately after the explosion; they were paid 12 weeks' severance six years after the mine's closure, but only when the provincial government was pressured to intervene. The mine was dismantled and permanently sealed in November 1998.
Following the closure of the last working mine in the 1970s, Pictou County's hopes for a mining renaissance were revived with the announcement of a proposed mine in the region in the late 1980s. The timing was perfect, politically, since the region had elected a fledgling leader of the federal opposition, Brian Mulroney, in a 1983 by-election in Central Nova. Following the election of a federal Conservative-led government, Elmer MacKay became a Tory political heavyweight in the riding. Provincially, the area was also home to Conservative premier Donald Cameron. Money was made available to Toronto company Curragh Resources for establishing a mine. A 0.75 mi (1.21 km) rail spur was built off the CN Rail main line at Stellarton which crossed the East River of Pictou to the mine site in Plymouth. The coal from the mine would be transferred by dedicated unit trains to feed the nearby Trenton Generating Station operated by Nova Scotia Power Company which was a provincial Crown corporation at the time; the actual rail cars would be constructed at the nearby TrentonWorks rail car plant which was struggling for orders.
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