Mine was a loaded gun
The levels of coal dust made the explosion inevitable
Dates matter.
With the anniversary of the Westray Mine Explosion approaching on May 9, many dates are running through Robert Thompson’s mind. May 9, May 22 and the day in September when a black suburban pulled in his driveway. But most importantly, May 6.
That’s the day in 1992 when he tested samples that showed high levels of coal dust in the mine. The miners were effectively working in the chamber of a gun ready to explode.
On May 6 he believes management at some level knew about the problem. He had phoned the results in to the appropriate person as was his standard procedure. That day provincial mine inspector Albert McLean was on site, and if he had seen the results, would likely have shut down the operation.
But no one did anything to address the safety concern brewing below ground. The biggest concern on people’s minds was keeping up with the supply of coal to meet Westray’s contract obligations with Nova Scotia Power.
On May 22, Thompson said he and his coworkers were called back to work. The plan was for open pit mining to start in Stellarton later that month.
“In the middle of the day I got a call while I was in the lab and Roger Parry and Trevor Eagles and Gerald Phillips showed up in the lab to demand to see the person who did the test.”
Parry and Phillips were managers of the mine and Eagles was the on-site engineer. Thompson knew the tests they were talking about were the ones he had done on May 6.
“The argument was whether the tests were done right or not. They were trying to make it my fault. I’m like 26 years old and green as the grass. I have a guy yelling in my face, wondering why I did it the way I did it, which was kind of shocking and unnerving.”
While Thompson said he knows he followed the correct procedure, those in charge insisted that he had done it wrong because he hadn’t accounted for moisture. To him, the point was moot. They were arguing over the calibre of the bullet, he said. The facts backed his results. The mine had blown up.
When Thompson walked into work May 28, his supervisor Robert O’Donnell told him to dispose of the coal dust splits that were left on the bench downstairs. The splits included a portion of coal dust he had set aside from the batch he tested on May 6, and if he was correct, would show that the levels were unsafe as his previous tests had shown.
“The fact that he told me to destroy evidence, that was the final straw for me. I went to the police the next day and told them everything I knew, which is probably not a whole lot, but enough that they were able to get a warrant and shut the mine down, because by the time I got back to work that evening, the place was seized by police.”
He said he knew from then on he was a dead man walking with the company. In June he was “let go” because of what he was told was a lack of work. Unemployed and home caring for two kids while his wife was away working to keep food on their table, a black suburban pulled into Thompson’s driveway in September.
Ches MacDonald, an investigator with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour came in to question him.
For an hour, Thompson told him everything he knew.
As he got up to leave, he said MacDonald looked at him and offered some advice.
“I respect you for your honesty, but keep this to yourself,” he said. “I don’t trust the people I’m working for.”
Thompson hoped he would be able to share his story during the inquiry that followed. While he was on the Crown’s list of witnesses, he was never called. Looking back, he said he doesn’t blame anyone in particular.
“I’m sure nobody wanted people to get killed. I don’t think there was a memo sent out one day, ‘Let’s blow up the mine.’ I don’t believe that happened. People are not that evil. But in the aftermath, I think people should have told the truth. I don’t think that happened.”