the New York Times described their economy at the time by saying "there is little industry but coal". In an interview with correspondent Bill Walker of CBS News, the foreman's widow was asked if she held the Finleys responsible for killing her husband. She said, "no" and paused, then stated,'"No more than if they'd held a gun to his head." This was the first time anyone related to the blast spoke out. Her husband, she went on to reveal, had spoken of the mine violations both the owner and federal government had let slide in the name of expediency and jobs. The House Labor Subcommittee held a week-long inquiry into the disaster in March 1971. Chuck Finley, the mine's owner, appeared only when subpoenaed, and denied any knowledge of the illegal primer cord, including testimony from a mine worker who claimed to have told Finley about the cord a few weeks earlier. Finley also denied claims raised in earlier testimony that he had bribed a mine inspector. He was questioned most harshly by Romano L. Mazzoli of Louisville, who had just begun what would be a long career in the House of Representatives. Mine Memorial The Hurricane Creek Mine Memorial is the memorial commemorating the 1970 Finley Mine explosion, which killed thirty-eight coal miners and left one survivor. The memorial is located in Leslie County, Kentucky built on the Finely Mine site. The memorial was planned by the friends and families of the lost miners to honor them. The state legislature approved the legislation to build the memorial to honor the miners on the 40th anniversary of the mine explosion. The dedication of the memorial took place during the opening ceremony on October 8, 2011 at approximately 1 p.m. Memorial Information The funding for the memorial was made possibly from state and local funding. House Bill 420 was passed in 2010 allowing the historical memorial to be built. The estimated completion time was April 2011, only a few months after this the memorial was opened. The memorial consists of a walkway with thirty eight wooden gates, each with a hanging coal miner hat, to honor each coal miner who died in the explosion, a bronze statue of a coal miner, and two walls that consist of the names of the thirty- eight coal miners who lost their lives and information about each of them. While there was one survivor, he