Mine Safety and Health Administration) to the Buffalo Creek area a few days after the disaster. He lives in my building. And I aint never seen God up there driving no bulldozer dumping slate on that dam. Her remarks won applause from most everyone in the room. EPA has made hazard ratings for hundreds of coal combustion waste ponds and impoundments in the U.S., ranking them for the public safety dangers and environmental risks they would pose in the event of failure. (plus appendices, vol. The Buffalo Creek Flood and Disaster: Official Report from the Governors Ad Hoc Commission of Inquiry, 1973 (PDF of actual report at Marshall University). The report found that company and state officials were ill informed of the problems of refuse dams and had not taken timely measures. "$1, 000, 001 Settlement in Flood Suit," Charleston Gazette, 11-15-1977. Railroad rails were twisted, cars were everywhere, bridges were on the roads instead of over the creek.. Residents were just awakening that Saturday morning; some entire families were still in bed. Pittston filed a lengthy memorandum setting forth new facts and arguments to support June 26, 1974The plaintiffs and Pittston settle for $13.5 million. In 1960, Buffalo Mining had constructed its first gob dam, or impoundment, near the mouth of Middle Fork in 1960. One retired coal miner who survived the flood, but who lost his wife, daughter and granddaughter in the disaster, explained what he experienced in one. Williams explained that such mining was only viable because the state allowed it to externalize costs i.e., impose its pollution, mine wastes, and environmental damage on landowners and the general public. He didnt make it so all these kids, all of them I knew, I knew their parents.. Buffalo Creek Disaster; however, I have concentrated on the parts of the book that offered me the most insight in terms of procedural strategy. January 1, 1971Pittstons umbrella insurance underwriters imposed a $1 The spill covered the surrounding land with up to six feet of sludge. Spadaro also wrote the bulk of the states report debunking Pittstons claim that the disaster was an act of God. An investigation found the company built the dam on top of coal slurry that had been deposited by an earlier dam, then more material went on top of that. Thomas N. Bethell and Davitt McAteer, The Pittston Mentality: Manslaughter on Buffalo Creek, Washington Monthly, May 1972. March 21, 1972Pittstons board of directors authorizedBMCto establish make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website, Online Exhibit /Special Collections, Marshall University. Public Service Commission and Water February 1972. The New York Times ran an Associated Press wire story on the front page of its Sunday, February 27th, 1972 edition, above the fold, bearing the headline, 37 Killed as Flood Sweeps A Valley in West Virginia. The opening sentence of that story read: A huge, coal-slag heap serving as a dam burst under the pressure of three days of torrential rains early this morning, sending a wall of water through a narrow valley dotted with small impoverished mining towns. The Times own reporter, George Vecsey, based in Kentucky, managed to reach Man, West Virginia on February 27th, filing his story (above) which appeared in the next days edition. UPI, Buffalo Creek Flood Inquiry [i.e., special grand jury] Is Off Until After Election, New York Times, September 13, 1972. When that report came out it called for new legislation and further inquiry by the local prosecutor, also concluding: Norm Williams, Deputy Director, WV-DNR & Citizens' Commission chairman. What was the actual settlement agreement in the Buffalo Creek disaster? 417-424, Appalachian Journal, Vol. 201 12th StS 4, Special Focus: Special issue on Post Disaster Societies (2011), pp. Scholarship on the disaster also helps us get to know the peoplethe victims, the survivorsinvolved. 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. Ive been fishing here for almost 17 years. Report of the Citizens Commission to Investigate the Buffalo Creek Disaster, Disaster on Buffalo Creek: A Citizens Report on Criminal Negligence in a West Virginia Mining Community, Charleston, West Virginia, 1972. Kapp, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. studied the 1972 Buffalo Creek flood in WV. The. From chaos to responsibility The litigation initiated by the 625 survivors of the Buffalo Creek flood who refused to settle with the coal company claims office was a landmark case. Set during the Polish-Soviet War of 19191920, Babels novel captured the indiscriminate violence and injustice of warfare. First Lieut. Journal of Appalachian Studies, Vol. It wasnt if Buffalo Creek would ever happen again, but when. 3) was built over Dam No. For many, Eriksons book became a definitive take on Buffalo Creek, as well as Appalachian culture as a whole. February 1971Dam #3 collapsed. Judge Hall ruled that the plaintiffs survivor-syndrome claims might exceed $10,000 The experts concluded that the victims suffered from (The Herald-Dispatch via AP). JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. That failure sent 300 million gallons of liquid coal waste tearing through the underground mine chambers, then spewing out of mountainside portals into valley streams below. When the water set it down again, it just flattened out on the ground. Click for copy. All we had was the clothes on our backs and I prep, I put back not a lot of food, but as much as Janet (his wife) will let me, and I prepare for nuclear war. 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 close look at Buffalo Creek illuminates the regions ties to coal. In an out of court settlement, the survivors were awarded $13.5 million, $6 million of which was distributed on the basis of a point system as compensation for the psychological damages. United States Senate, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Subcommittee on Labor, Buffalo Creek (W. Va.) Disaster 1972, Hearings, May 30 and 31, 1972, 2 vols. The survivors were not allowed to address the meeting. by refuse-pile dams. He is forbidden from distributing the memorandum. This work revealed the inadequacies that existed at that time in the safety of many of the dams constructed by the coal mining industry. Jamie Goodman/Brian Sewell, Remembering Buffalo Creek, The Appalachian Voice, February 21, 2012. Survivor Fred Pierson, who lived at Saunders, never shared his story beyond his close family members or attended a memorial service until last year on the 50th anniversary. flagrant disregard for the safety of residents of Buffalo Creek and other persons Thomas Andrews' "Killing for Coal". 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. For the first time, individuals who were not present at the scene of a disaster were allowed to recover for mental injuries. JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. In a court statement later, Mr. Staten recounted his travail and losing his wife: When I looked back and saw her she said, Take care of my baby.Thats the last time I saw her., Mr. Staten and his son, meanwhile, swept along in the water, were struggling to save themselves. The wall of water exploded PopHistoryDig.com, January 31, 2019. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; The socio-psychology of all this was probed and covered in an award-winning 1976 book by Kai T. Erikson. Children walk along the tracks in what remains of their community along Buffalo Creek, in West Virginia, on Feb. 27, 1972. It brings back old memories of being in Vietnam, he said. We publish articles grounded in peer-reviewed research and provide free access to that research for all of our readers. U.S. General Accounting Office, Delayed Redevelopment was Reasonable after Flood Disaster in West Virginia, Report of the Comptroller of the United States, Washington, DC: 1976. The chair of the citizens commission, Norman Williams, then deputy director of West Virginias Department of Natural Resources, called for the outlawing of strip mining throughout the state. Uploaded by api-369440949. 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. Jacob Turkale holds a rainbow trout he caught Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, along Buffalo Creek in his hometown of Man, W.Va. Fifty years ago in West Virginia, the collapse of an coal-waste impoundment unleashed a torrent of black water into a narrow valley. Click for copy. the front to drag them to paradise california. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Property damage is estimated to be upward of $50 million or more. President Richard Nixon, then in China, had contacted Moore by phone to promise Federal disaster aid. dumping coal refuse into the mouth of Middle Fork hollow. Pittston Quits the Coal Business, Buffalo CreekFlood.org. The goal of MSHAs impoundment program continues to help ensure that: Impoundments constructed by the coal industry are designed to accepted dam safety standards. Arnold and Porter gave Pittston a $32.5 million written settlement proposal. Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster 50th Anniversary One of the country's worst mining-related disasters occurred February 26, 1972, on Buffalo Creek in Logan County. Choose wisely! The tragedy resulted in a $13.5 million class action settlement, and led to the 1973 Dam Control Act. 2 to handle excessive runoff. Rescue operations were slowed because roads, bridges and railroad lines were destroyed or blocked. No dollar amount could ever erase for the survivors what happened at Buffalo Creek. April 30, 1974Plaintiffs amended their complaint. 1904The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad completed its Charleston, W.Va., [1] For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Buffalo Creek flood. NovemberSpecial grand jury led by two special prosecuting attorneys (includingWVUCollege It was the flood at lick fork. How much was the settlement? Today is the 49th anniversary of one of the worst mining catastrophes in West Virginia history, the Buffalo Creek Disaster. A wave from the waste dam flooded and destroyed the Buffalo Creek community [2]. a claims office in Buffalo Creek.Pittston moved for summary judgment because Pittston Construction is carried out according to the approved plan. University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Appalachian Studies Association, Inc. Journal of American Studies, Vol. Porterfield described a makeshift morgue set up at the local junior high school, likening it to the famous scene from Gone with the Wind in which Scarlett OHara stands astonished looking upon a sea of battlefield casualties. We have had a couple of conversations since he moved in and that is how I found out he was from Logan, more specifically, Man, West Virginia. March 1972Arnold & Porter agreed to represent the Buffalo Creek Citizens If a person is so often treated as trash, they may come to believe they are nothing but trash. A few weeks later, on February 22nd, a federal mine inspector and the company safety engineer observed the dams and found conditions satisfactory. The Buffalo Creek Disaster: How the Survivors of One of the Worst Disasters in Coal-Mining History Brought Suit Against the Coal Company- And Won. Plaintiffs filed their more definite statement of their damage claims. [W]e decided we would band together and hope it would relieve our tensions and fears, stated one member of the group. Feb 27, 1972. Buffalo Creek Disaster 1. Another survivor and eye witness recounted what he saw to a Logan Banner reporter: It was throwing houses around like matchstems and it was picking up cars like they were eggshells, Two other witnesses reported to the Logan Banner that they saw bodies getting hung in trees The water was black and it was carrying homes and timber Another man added: I just didnt believe I would see that much water and houses floating down the creek. After last year, Pierson, who now lives in Scott Depot, made the drive home to Logan County once again to reminisce with other survivors. In February 1968, Saunders resident Mrs. Pearl Woodrum wrote a letter of complaint to then Governor Hulett Smith saying in effect, the dams were unsafe. West Virginia Governor's report: "The Buffalo Creek Flood And Disaster". And that same year, 1967, the U.S. Department of the Interior had warned state officials that the Buffalo Creek dams and 29 others throughout West Virginia were unstable and dangerous.[I]f you dont do some-thing, were all going to be washed away. A roadside historical marker describing the Buffalo Creek coal impoundment disaster is shown Feb. 22, 2022, in Man, W.Va. Fifty years ago in West Virginia, the collapse of an coal-waste impoundment unleashed a torrent of black water into a narrow valley. hearings, 91 witnesses, and 2,000 pages of transcript that Pittston has shown amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; of Law Dean Willard Lorensen) brings no criminal indictments against Pittston. The report also noted the possibility that water and coal wastes in abandoned underground mines could break through auger holes and flow into the impoundment behind dam #3, as the practice of disposing coal sludges in abandoned underground mines had occurred in other areas of the state, with sludges breaking through to the surface in some cases. Have a correction or comment about this article? 2 held and halted the water. The Buffalo Creek disaster : how the survivors of one of the worst disasters in coal-mining history brought suit against the coal company -- and won. Pierson said the flood had a rather unique impact on him it caused him to conquer his fear of water. Rebecca Bailey's 2008 book, "Matewan: Before The Massacre". The Citizens Commission found Pittston Coal reckless and negligent and the state negligent in ensuring safety compliance. I found the use of . Gertie Moore was a bus driver when the flood happened and over a half-century later, she still grows emotional when hearing the names of the deceased and recalling the events of that fateful day. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. November 1968Consolidation Coal Company mine explosion at Farmington, Nader commented, shortly after the flood, that the Buffalo Creek massacre is only one more in the long series of tragedies which coal corporations have perpetrated upon the people of Appalachia, especially of West Virginia. Note that Nader did not mince words, labelling the event a massacre.. March 5, 1972. Those who survived saw corpses everywhere. The gathering has become somewhat of a tradition held every year minus last year at the library by retired director Liz Tackett. Richard Martin's 2015 book, "Coal Wars". 3 failed. George Vecsey, Memories of a Disaster, GeorgeVecsey.com, February 22, 2012. Click for copy. The association will hold its annual kids fishing event in April, giving away 125 rods and reels and other fishing gear. 1:30 a.m., dam #3s water was only one foot below the dams crest. document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); JSTOR Daily provides context for current events using scholarship found in JSTOR, a digital library of academic journals, books, and other material. Moore by phone to promise Federal disaster aid present at the scene of a disaster were allowed to recover mental... University of Illinois Press on behalf of the worst mining catastrophes in West Virginia Governor 's report: `` Buffalo. 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