The Blast in Centralia No. 5: A Mine Disaster No One Stopped

The Blast in Centralia No. 5: A Mine Disaster No One Stopped

Case Study Overview

- Centralia, Illinois

- Employed 250 men and produced 2,000 tons of coal daily

- Two main explosion hazards in all coal mines: (1) coal dust, and (2) gas

Key Actors

1. State of Illinois

2. The United States Government

3. The Centralia Coal Company

4. United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)

Jordan Bigda, Emily Broe, & Russell Capeless

Core Public Administration Concepts

"Public administration is the use of managerial, political and legal theories and processes to fulfill legislative, executive, and judicial mandates for the provision of governmental regulatory and service functions." - Rosenbloom

Managerial Problems

- Three approaches to public administration

(1) Managerial , (2) Political, and (3) Legal

Hierarchical Issues

Centralia Coal Company

- Who was in charge at Centralia Coal Company?

- Bell and Zoller Empire

Conclusion

The Legal Approach

Would a flattened organizational structure have been more beneficial? Or is this an issue of accountability?

The Political Approach

The Managerial Approach

- Took the business approach too literally

- Only cared about profits

- Dehumanization (traditional approach)

- Cost benefit analysis

Main Values: procedural due process, substantive rights, equal protection

Main Values: representativeness, political responsiveness, and accountability

Main Values: effectiveness, economy, and efficiency

Two School of Thought: Traditional and NPM

• Every individual is a unique case to be considered
• Emphasizes maximum protection of rights
• Decision making is incremental to lend stability

New Public Management (NPM)

-stresses political pluralism

-promotes political transparency

Traditional Approach

- Major problems within public administration are seen throughout this case

- The three approaches must be used in conjunction with one another for the best results

- Jump started in the 1990s

- Aimed to improve performance of the public sector

- Disliked bureaucracy

- Felt that the public sector was disconnected from the public

- Focused on results

- Originated in the 19th century

- Believed that government was inefficient

- Necessary to become nonpolitical and more business-like

-Favored bureaucracies

-Have a dehumanized view of individuals

-Use cost benefit analysis for budgeting and decision making

-promotes public participation in administrative decision making

-decisions based on public interest instead of fact

-groups individuals into collective interest groups

Do you think this disaster would have occurred if Centralia coal company put less of an emphasis on profits and more on human capital?

Do you think this disaster could have been prevented if better public administrative strategies were utilized from the start? Possible suggestions?

Political Problems

Legal Problems

-lack of accountability between political actors

-"Coal has always been deeply enmeshed in Illinois politics"

-Scanlon's recommendation

-procedural approach to action

- Union's complaints overlooked

• Safety regulations of the mine were not enforced
• Procedural process for inspections were not followed
• Profit was valued above workers' safety

Krug - Lewis Agreement

- Julius Krug, Secretary of Interior

-Imminent danger provision

-Confusion among mining community

Should there have been better laws put in place to protect the rights and safety of the miners? Would this have helped? Would they have been enforced?

How could the procedures be fixed to avoid political run around? Would a better procedure have helped this cause?