t several men answered a call to
work in the mines the day before the explosion. The extra service men were
checked, but the mine officials are uncertain as to their exact number. Seven
additional identifications of victims was affected this morning.
|January 12, 1938
Harwick Mine Explosion,
This was an idle day at the mine and 38 maintenance workers were in the mine. ( 38 in the official report, 46 in the Pittsburgh Press Report, other says 35 workers 11 bosses). Normally 445 men would have been working in the Harwick Mine.
|Good Old Days at Harwick Mine are
recalled by, left to right, W. A. Hixenbough, Stanley Starr and Mine Suot.
Tony Kavel. The two miners hold pieces of coal from the last load removed
from Harwick befroe it closed on June 20. Back in th e1950's, 500 men
were employed in the diggings, which are located under the Cheswick - Springdale
area. About 65 men are now dismantling machinery in the shafts, a job
that will be completed within two weeks.
(Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Press, July 1, 1970.)
|Light Firm Shuts Harwick Mine,
Once Leading Source of Power
Duquesne Light Co., has closed its Harwick Mine. "It's worked out," said an official of the power company. "For us, it's the end of an era," The huge mine, which underlies vast stretches of the Cheswick-Springdale area, was shut down June 20, 1970.
Coal for Power
The Harwick diggings once supplied most of the coal which fueled steam-driven generators at Duquesne Light's power stations in the Pittsburgh district.
"We employed as many as 500 men here back in 1950," said Tony Kavel, mine superintendent. Automation brought a gradual decrease in the number of miners employed at Harwick. Today, there are about 65 men at work in the shafts, dismantling machinery and stripping hardware from the mine. "It'll take two more weeks to finish this cleanup work," said Kavel.
Most to Colfax
In recent years, Harwick's production went mostly to the Colfax power station about two miles south of the mine. When all the equipment is finally removed from the mine, the abandoned diggings will be put to new use. Fly ash from the dirt collectors on the smoke stacks at Colfax and Duquesne Light's new $100 millon Cheswick station will be mixed into a slurry that'll be pumped into the underground voids. "If we disposed of the fly ash at an open air dump, the wind could blow it around," said a spokesman for Duquesne Light. "This way, it travels to the disposal site in a closed system of pipes, then goes underground doe safe, clean storage.
Water Pumped Back
The water in the transporting slurry will be pumped back out of the mine after it has delivered its load. Il'll be treated at a new $300,000 water treatment plant that will remove impurities. The "cleaned" water finally will be discharged into Little Deer Creek. About five millon gallons of water will be treated each day, including the normal drainage from the worked-out mine. Henceforth, Duquesne Light will rely mostly on coal produced by its Warwick Mine in Greene County to keep its electric generating plants going.
Harwick Mine opened in 1901. Duquesne Light acquired
it in 1940.
|The monument at the Harwick Miners mass
grave site, in Springdale, PA, ca.2004. The monument is located near
the presentday coal handling area of the Cofax Power Plant. I tried
to locate the monument in 2010, the location is in a construction parking
lot area for the rebuilt power plant, and could not be located, not sure
if it was moved or covered over.
(Photo courtesy of "Western Pennsylvania History" Spring, 2004, Western Pennsylvanai Historical Society.)
Update on the Harwick Miners Memorial
It is easy to visit the cemetery by entering the power station
driveway, located off Freeport Road, ironically at the site of the trestle
that carried coal from the Harwick mine via the Cheswick & Harmar Railroad
to the power station coal yard, and after stating your business to the guard,
proceed directly to the site.
|At the Harwick Miners mass grave site,
Springdale, PA, ca.2004, a couple of miles from the site of the Harwick Mine,
are Bruce Gunia, Gra