Editing Tower City, Pennsylvania (section)

=====Porter Tunnel inundation=====
[[File:Kocher tunnel.jpg|thumb|Kocher Tunnel]]
On Tuesday, March 1, 1977, workers in the Porter Tunnel mine, while working in a new area, broke into a flooded area of the abandoned Bush Old Bootleg Slope Mine, causing the Porter Tunnel to flood.  Nine miners were killed, three were injured, and one was trapped, but eventually rescued.

Subsequent investigation determined that the map of the area used by management of the Porter Tunnel was inaccurate.  It did not show the locations of all known bootleg mine works in the area, including most significantly, the Bush Old Bootleg.  Management had suspected that the tunnel was nearby, and had instituted a program of drilling {{convert|26|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} test holes in the work areas to probe for water.  Workers had testified that this program was discontinued prior to the flood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usmra.com/saxsewell/portertunnel.htm |title=1977 Porter Tunnel Inundation |access-date=2005-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050529102610/http://www.usmra.com/saxsewell/portertunnel.htm |archive-date=2005-05-29 }}</ref>