George Vecsey, West Virginia Flood Toll At 60 With Hundreds Lost, New York Times, February 28, 1972. It goes between the hospital and the high school and I remember when we got off, these people run up to us and they was writing down our names to get a recovery list for people that made it, and needless to say, there was groups of people that were sent there.. Pierson said he still feels a bit of anger over the aftermath of the flood. A wave from the waste dam flooded and destroyed the Buffalo Creek community [2]. One of the country's worst mining-related disasters occurred February 26, 1972, on Buffalo Creek in Logan County. By 2003, Pittston had moved into one of its more profitable businesses, private security, then adopting its Brinks Company subsidiary as its new corporate name. The state then cited Pittston for violations but failed to follow up with inspections. But his pregnant wife couldnt get out; she was trapped in the house. His words paint a picture of a bleak future for a people suffering from a cyclical system of abuse. The state had initially sued for $100 million, half of which was slated to cover cleanup and restoration expenses. The Earth Justice organization, one of the environmental groups following this issue, has complied a U.S. map of these sites as shown above. Generated by Wordfence at Wed, 1 Mar 2023 10:03:54 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. 300 acre-feet of water would be: The Springfield Republican newspaper of of Springfield, Massachusetts ran a wire story from United Press International (UPI) on the front page with the headline: 80 to 90 Feared Dead in W. Va. Dam Break; Mining Town Wiped Out. That story shared the front page with other national and regional news that day, picturing U.S. Less than a year later, in February 1971, Dam No. Moore regarding their request that a coal miner be added to the commission, a separate Citizens Commission was formed to provide an independent review of the disaster. Those parts of the book are the choices regarding: who to name as defendant; what court to file in; and what type of suit to file. William Rhee, Associate Professor of Law, West Virginia University, The Buffalo Creek Timeline, WVU.edu, updated on December 30, 2015. On Saturday, victims were being remembered at the same high school that served as a temporary morgue 50 years ago. 1970Pittstons London insurance underwriters inquired about all of its Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement at the end of his second term. Six years later, it added a second dam, 600 feet further upstream. Why Theyve Got West Virginians Worried, YesMagazine.org, April 23, 2015. Suite 401 March 2, 1973Judge Hall holds hearing on Pittstons motion to dismiss Stereotypesparticularly the white trash stereotypes depicting Appalachians as lazy, ignorant, and hopelessallow for the continued exploitation of Appalachia by industry. In the early morning hours of Saturday, February 26th, 1972, after three days of rain, a series of coal slurry impoundments in the upper reaches of the Buffalo Creek watershed in Logan County, West Virginia, were beginning to weaken. A search of Public Service Commission records in response to Pearl Woodrums complaint failed to produce any proof that dams No.1 and No. Richard Carelli, Mining Official Blames Explosions on Flood Water Hitting Hot Slag Pile, Charleston Gazette, March 9, 1972. MayA group of Buffalo Creek disaster survivors traveled to Pittstons .. At 8 a.m. on Feb. 26, 1972, 130 million gallons of water and coal sludge burst through a dam, poured into Buffalo Creek, and violently surged through 16 . Kapp, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. They just had this blank stare of resignation One of my co-workers said people in those coal communities are used to being battered by this and that. 2 gave way, quickly followed by Dam No. (1972). Arlington, VA 22202-5450www.msha.govTTY202-693-9400, Quarterly Training Calls & Stakeholder Meetings, The goal of MSHAs impoundment program continues to help ensure that. I was terrified of water because I lived through it as a kid and I was just traumatized, but I tell you what, after that dam broke and I seen what I seen, I never was afraid of water again. Stern asked Judge Hall to help him get access to the West Virginia Ad Hoc Commission Homes were left in splinters Railroad tracks yanked up and twisted. Ken Ward, Jr., Agencies Failed to Protect People, Inspector Recalls, Charleston Gazette, Tuesday, February 25, 1997. And for the survivors of the Buffalo Creek Disaster, there was little real recovery. Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster 50th Anniversary 1904The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad completed its Charleston, W.Va., But the dam pools, and the dumping of the solid slag wastes on the dam structures, were both essentially cost-saving, cheapest-way-to-do-it coal industry practices. Rescue operations were slowed because roads, bridges and railroad lines were destroyed or blocked. They looked like huge metallic pretzels. For decades after that, fishing of any kind was no longer an option on the southern West Virginia waterway. (plus appendices, vol. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. million deductible in response to the Dola, W. Va., dam failure. Arnold & Porters medical and psychological experts started interviewing and October 6, 1982: Buffalo Creek flood settlement. February 1972. U.S. map showing locations of coal ash waste dams, spills, and contamination compiled by Earth Justice. The following morning, his wifes birthday, Harvey was on his way to pick up a cake, but police had the road blocked off. Coal Co. v. De Wese, 30 2's slurry pool. April 1, 1974Pittston moved to dismiss absent plaintiffs, plaintiffs claiming Buffalo Creek Disaster; however, I have concentrated on the parts of the book that offered me the most insight in terms of procedural strategy. But those improved practices didnt last. The governors acquiescence proved costly for the state, as West Virginia ended up forced to reimburse the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers $9 million for recovery work. markets. Instead, the builders end-dumped and shoved loosely compacted layers of coarse refuse across the valley. Gerald M.Stern writes the story of The Buffalo Creek Disaster, how a coal cleaning impoundment dam burst, killing 125 people injuring more than 1000 and causing over 4000 people to be homeless. To view our latest e-Edition click the image at left. Peter Galuszka's "Thunder on the Mountain". Buffalo Creek Disaster Term 1 / 149 Who is Gerald Stern? In 1971, Pittston was cited for over 5,000 safety violations at its mines nationally. U.S. 1/2 (Spring/Fall 2010), pp. Several lawsuits were also filed in the wake of the Buffalo Creek disaster, including a large class action with 645 survivors and victim family members suing Pittston for $64 million. 3) was built over Dam No. Mining industry-related incidents are a longstanding reality for the residents of West Virginia, Young writes, echoing the sentiments Ralph Nader expressed decades earlier. Chad Motrie's 2003 history of Appalachian strip mining. But these werent the only investigations; there were also several others, including: one or more Congressional committees, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. September 30, 1870: Harpers Ferry flood. Hearing before the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs United States Senate July 20, 1972. The physical conditions leading to the failure of the dam are complex and involve a weak foundation and saturated embankment giving rise to failure of the downstream portion of the dam and a sudden total collapse of the remainder of the dam due to liquefaction. (AP Photo/John Raby), My dad and brothers all were fishermen and miners, Harvey said. Mimi Pickering (Film Director), Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man (essay), Library of Congress, 1978 (in 1984, filmmaker Mimi Pickering completed Buffalo Creek Revisited, an update on the flood and its consequences). make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website, Online Exhibit /Special Collections, Marshall University. Rescue operations and accurate reporting of the dead and missing were made difficult by the fact that access to the area by road had been wiped out, with bridges destroyed and rail lines blocked or flooded. As I rode that house down the creek I could see that the bottom of it was above those telephone poles in the holler.. At a protest meeting held in the Buffalo Grade School in Accoville a month after the flood, an older woman stood up and shouted out: Ive lived up at the top of the hollow for a long time. National Guard helicopters picked up survivors and delivered supplies. All Rights Reserved. 1966A United Kingdom coal-waste dump in South Aberfam, Wales similar Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster: Feb. 26, 1972. They created this place and they destroyed this place, and we are just disposable, basically. On February 26, 1972 the Buffalo creek community was destroyed by a terrible flood. Some of the flood damage in the aftermath of the Buffalo Creek disaster in West Virginia, showing "mud line" on damaged home, indicating approximation of flood levels for some structures, while others were carried away in the wave or disintegrated into pieces. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Steve Thompson Witnessed the Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster First Hand. Some residents in the area, especially those who lived in the town of Saunders, located in the valley directly below the dams, had worried for years about the dams strength. Four years after the disaster, in 1976, about 100 families were still living in the government provided mobile homes. This dam failure released 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry into the Emory and Clinch rivers. The number stern settled on was 32.5 million dollars. W. Va. 1974). The Pittston Company: Company Profile & History, ReferenceForBusiness.com. Map Feature: Coal Ash Contaminated Sites & Hazard Dams (U.S.), EarthJustice.org. Thomas Andrews' "Killing for Coal". Survivor Tim Hall, a Lundale native who now lives at Mud Fork near Logan, said the flood was worse than any other disaster because of the destruction it caused. Tom Nugent, Death at Buffalo Creek: The 1972 West Virginia Flood Disaster, New York: Norton, 1973. Later accounts from survivors would describe some of the horrendous moments that families faced as the coal flood tore through the valley. No dollar amount could ever erase for the survivors what happened at Buffalo Creek. When forced to give up these long-standing ties with familiar places and people, the . It brings back old memories of being in Vietnam, he said. Buffalo Creek lives on with a legacy of generational trauma for survivors and their kin, but it is often revisited through a legacy of ongoing industrial disasters, from the aforementioned Elk River chemical spill to the 2006 Sago Mine disaster (which killed twelve) and the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster (which killed twenty-nine). During the flood, 125 people lost their lives, 1,100 were injured and 4,000 were left homeless. "300 acres of area covered by water a foot deep". 1969Congress enacted the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. Eventually, she and her husband, Arthur, rebuilt on the same spot as the old house. water. The Concept 2 . The couple had nine children. The state filed a $100 million lawsuit against mine owner Pittston Coal; then-Gov. Pierce. This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. (the diversity amount-in-controversy amount at the time). list is late. Jules Loh, Associated Press, Buffalo Creek Hollow: A Nice Place to Live Then The Flood, March 5, 1972. .In 1971, Pittston was cited for over 5,000 safety violations at its mines nationally. The United States declined to sue Pittston for cleanup costs. What happened after the Buffalo Creek disaster? (ABA Required Disclosures). Children of Disaster: Clinical Observations at Buffalo Creek, American Journal of Psychiatry, March 1976, pp.306-12. This failure, predicted by inspector results, caused a domino effect by causing the failure of two other dams. The dams themselves were certainly not state-of-the-art construction. examining the plaintiffs. Stern met with plaintiffs and obtained settlement authority. A separate settlement for survivors amounted to about $13,000 per plaintiff. Actual death toll would be 125, nearly twice early reports. February 5, 1968Buffalo Creek resident wrote the Governor of West Virginia Jamie Goodman/Brian Sewell, Remembering Buffalo Creek, The Appalachian Voice, February 21, 2012. and $50 million punitive damages. That summer, Brunty cried in fear with every storm and strong wind gust that shook her temporary trailer. That film was selected for the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2005. The Buffalo Creek Disaster of 1972. February 28Pittston employee distributes warning memorandum previously May 13, 1974Judge Hall denied motion for partial summary judgment as to personal Each of the plaintiffs ended up with about $13,000. 128-129. Tim Hall, left, tells his story during a memorial service at the Buffalo Creek Memorial Library on Friday, Feb. 24. Low 54F. amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; for authority to build a $350 million oil refinery and tanker terminal. The Citizens Commission found Pittston Coal reckless and negligent and the state negligent in ensuring safety compliance. Governor Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement from the Pittston Coal Company related to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood. Its not even past.. By September 1972, the two competing West Virginia commissions one from the Governor, and the other a Citizens Commission issued their reports. The The black wall of water was later estimated to have moved at a rate of seven feet per second. 2 had ever been formally approved by the state. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; March 5, 1972. Events Leading To The Buffalo Creek Disaster, BuffaloCreekFlood.org. 3 had been built on top of coal slurry sediment that had collected behind the earlier dams 1 and 2, not on solid bedrock. In March 1967, a partial collapse at one of the dams caused some flooding in the hollow, alarming residents already concerned about the structures. Feb 27, 1972. The citizens commission report, formally titled. The Buffalo Creek Disaster Memorial, located in Kistler, WV, stands as a reminder of one of the darkest hours in West Virginia history. "one acre of area covered by water to a depth of 300 feet", OR Davitt McAteer's book on the 1907 Monongah mine disaster. Rita Colistra, The Rumble and The Dark: Regional Newspaper Framing of the Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster of 1972, Journal of Appalachian Studies, Vol. July 5, 1973Judge Hall granted plaintiffs motion to amend their complaint. April 16, 1973Plaintiffs moved to amend their complaint to add additional Nader and McAteer, in a letter to key members of Congress urging investigations, estimated that hundreds of thousands of West Virginians living in narrow Appalachian valleys, could be threatened by sudden catastrophic flooding from unstable coal waste dams. 22-45, Appalachian Journal and Appalachian State University, Social Justice, Vol. Hundreds of families lost everything their homes, their belongings, their memorabilia. Three days later, on February 25, with heavy rain, the water behind dam No. Were owned by the coal company. No evidence of an act of God was found by the Commission. Associated Press (Man, WV. and made decisions on future trial structure. Looking back at the Buffalo Creek Disaster. But before the acquisition, Pittston engineers had reportedly surveyed the Buffalo Mining property, and according to company officials who later testified: Our reports had no indication that there was any danger, or that anything was wrong with the impoundments . The tragedy resulted in a $13.5 million class action settlement, and led to the 1973 Dam . Click for copy. The Buffalo Creek Disaster. Chance of rain 100%. The historic Buffalo Creek flood tore through a region often exploited by industryand stereotyped by outsiders. Gertie Moore, a former Logan County Schools bus driver, tearfully recalls two children who perished in the Buffalo Creek Flood during a memorial service at the Buffalo Creek Memorial Library on Friday, Feb. 24. 1. Click for copy. Pittstons unstable and that the bank [was] subject to large wash-out on [the] north side M. S. TERN, T . It was a recipe for disaster as the trio of dams was inadequate to handle runoff from large rainstorms, like the one that dumped several inches of rain on Logan County by early Saturday morning, Feb. 26. Still other operations use injection techniques to pump various coal wastes underground. State officials requested a few minor alterations to the impoundment. Fact stipulations, exhibit lists, and pretrial Dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers helped but did nothing to support trout habitat. An early New York Times story filed from Man, West Virginia, implicated 'coal waste pile' in its reporting on the Buffalo Creek disaster, along with a photo of some of the local damage. [I]n true Appalachian fashion, few people are ready to accept the responsibility of leadership is another. Senators and experts gather around scale model of Buffalo Creek area in Senate hearing room showing valley below and three coal waste impoundments (#s 8, 5, & 4) that burst causing catastrophic flood on February 26, 1972. June 12, 1964Buffalo Mining Company (BMC) incorporated. Specific problems, such as the presence of mine workings near impoundments, are dealt with using sound engineering approaches. 1942Buchanan County coal refuse pile explosion covered the railroad tracks And it also continued dumping its coal wastes in the area as well, absent the use of watery waste dams. Subsequent The state's investigation into the disaster is filled with controversy. 302-305. to the one at Buffalo Creek collapses, killing 147 people. and submitted other discovery requests to Pittston. In fact, the company was cited for over 5,000 safety violations at its mines nationally in 1971. gave way, killing eight people. The Buffalo Creek that survives today is calm in places and flows briskly in others, its rapids gurgling. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines (W. A. Wahler & Associates), Analysis of Coal Refuse Dam Failure. I go to fire departments and teach about nuclear fallout. He said the impoundment failure at Buffalo Creek was accompanied by multiple warnings. A helicopter hovers over one location in the Buffalo Creek valley, surveying the damage in the aftermath of the coal dam failures and devastating flood of February 26, 1972. Scholarship on the disaster also helps us get to know the peoplethe victims, the survivorsinvolved. Work began on drafting a settlement. February 1972. The current members of [the Governors] panel are either oriented to coal or apologists for the tragedy, so we are creating our own commission of 19 residents to take testimony from eyewitnesses, said Pat McClintock at the time. By 1957, the Buffalo Mining Company, as part of its strip mining operations, began dumping gob mine waste consisting of mine dust, shale, clay, low-quality coal, and other impurities into the Middle Fork branch. and damage claims. Privacy Policy Contact Us November 20, 1968: Farmington coal mine disaster Dam Break'. Buffalo Creek Disaster marks 47th anniversary Logan Banner On Feb. 26, 1972, a coal waste dam collapsed on the Middle Fork of Buffalo Creek, releasing 132 million gallons of water, coal refuse and silt into the narrow mountain valley. The Buffalo Creek disaster, however, did galvanize concern about strip mining and coal safety in Congress, and helped to spur passage of regulatory bills on the House side during Congressional debate in the early 1970s. I enjoyed it when I was small., He said the adults decided that if they got the kids involved they wouldnt be as apt to go out and start worrying about getting on drugs or drinking and stuff like that.. Young ranks the spill as but one more state crime in a long list of state crimes, a list on which Buffalo Creek is also included. More than a dozen homes and hundreds of acres in the down-stream community of Harriman, TN were hit with a gigantic toxic mess. Pittstons Oil Division applied to Maines Department of Environmental Protection The sociologist Kai Erikson was brought in for the latter suit as an expert witness on behalf of the survivors. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. Cited for over 5,000 safety violations at its mines nationally in 1971. gave way quickly!, victims were being remembered at the time ) Marshall University the u.s. Army Corps of Engineers but. Results, caused a domino effect by causing the failure of two other dams Disaster First Hand recovery. Community was destroyed by a terrible Flood a wave from the Pittston Company: Company Profile history! His story during a memorial Service at the same high school that served as a morgue. 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