20th Anniversary Of Quecreek Mine Rescue To Be Celebrated In July In Somerset County

The 20th Anniversary of the Quecreek Mine Rescue will be celebrated on July 22 and 23 in Somerset County Mine Rescue Site and at related events according to the Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation.

On July 24, 2002 miners broke through into an abandoned, water-filled mine flooding the Quecreek Mine with over 150 million gallons of water.  Nine miners scrambled to safety, but nine were trapped in a pocket of air in the dark, cold, water filled mine.

The nine miners were rescued four days later through the combined efforts of state and federal mine rescue agencies and hundreds of workers and local volunteers.

The main celebrations will be on--

-- July 22: Rescuer Day at the Rescue Site from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with representatives from federal Mine Safety Health Administration, DEP, rescue teams, drillers, fire, EMS, State Policy, County Sheriff and search and rescue

-- July 23: Family Day at the Rescue Site starting at 10:00 a.m. with a flag ceremony by the PA State Police Honor Guard and other activities.

The Mine Rescue Site is located at 140 Haupt Road in Somerset.

Former Gov. Mark Schweiker and other officials will be part of these events.

Other Events

Other related activities include--

-- July 16: Miners Night at the Jennerstown Speedway

-- July 17: Car Cruise at the Christ Casebeer Church adjacent to the Rescue Site

-- July 24: Miners Day at PNC Park for the Pirates v. Marlins 1:00 p.m. game time.

Visit the Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation website for more information.  Questions should be directed to Bill Arnold by calling 814-445-5090 or send email to: Bill@9for9.org. 

Resource Links:

-- Click Here to watch a video produced by the Commonwealth Media Services documenting the critical decisions made during the rescue effort.

-- Click Here for the DEP Commemorative Booklet “Nine for Nine” with lots of photos from each phase of the rescue and the names of key DEP players.

-- Click Here for the DEP Timeline Of The Quecreek Mine Rescue.

Related Article:

-- Feature: Rock - Water - Air: A Personal Account Of The 2002 Quecreek Mine Rescue

[Posted: June 3, 2022]  PA Environment Digest