I saw my neighbors houses leave. dumping coal refuse into the mouth of Middle Fork hollow. This work revealed the inadequacies that existed at that time in the safety of many of the dams constructed by the coal mining industry. Newman, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. With little warning to residents, more than 130 million gallons of dark floodwaters tore through more than a dozen communities in the hollow. A bulldozer slid into the pond and its driver died. Kai Eriksons book, Everything In Its Path: Destruc-tion of Community in The Buffalo Creek Flood. Stern met with plaintiffs and obtained settlement authority. 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.. The Buffalo Creek Flood and Disaster: Official Report From the Governors Ad Hoc Commission of Inquiry, 1973 (as posted at: wvculture.org). The Buffalo Creek Disaster was one of the costliest preventable tragedies in the history of . You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the provided link on any marketing message. Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster: Feb. 26, 1972. Gazette-Mail/L. Why Theyve Got West Virginians Worried, YesMagazine.org, April 23, 2015. March 1972Arnold & Porter agreed to represent the Buffalo Creek Citizens 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. It took a mere 15 minutes to totally fail, Spadaro said. Although its velocity gradually decreased as it traveled down the valley, the event caused death and destruction as far as 15 miles downstream of the dams. Nader had sent one of his investigators, a young West Virginia lawyer named Davitt McAteer (who years later would head up the U.S. The Buffalo Creek Disaster of 1972. .. The Buffalo Creek flood was a disaster that occurred in Logan County, West Virginia on February 26, 1972 when a coal slurry impoundment dam burst, causing significant loss of life and property damage. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; All Rights Reserved. (Rockefeller would later be elected governor and U.S. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. The Buffalo Creek that survives today is calm in places and flows briskly in others, its rapids gurgling. He was heavily involved in writing federal regulations and beefed-up criteria for the construction of coal waste dams and their maintenance. May 30, 1972. December 2008. State regulators sued the mines owner. At the time, the EPA called it the worst environmental disaster in the southeast United States. The coal company called it an act of God (sound familiar?). Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. Craig Ammerman, Eight More Bodies Found; Logan Flood Toll Climbs to 84, Charleston Gazette, March 3, 1972. Mary Walton, Triangle of Blame Placed in Disaster, Charleston Gazette, May 30, 1972, p.1. Tim Hall, left, explains how the events of the Buffalo Creek Flood shaped his life during a memorial service at the Buffalo Creek Memorial Library on Friday, Feb. 24. Fuquay would also conduct an early field analysis of what happened there. 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. The water was there, and then it was gone Edna Baisden And on the morning of February 26, 1972, just after 8:00 am, that worst fear was realized. Theres also the risk of environmental damage from coal ash, the toxic wastewater left over from burning coal at power plants. June 26, 1974The plaintiffs and Pittston settle for $13.5 million. JSTOR, the JSTOR logo, and ITHAKA are registered trademarks of ITHAKA. An official website of the United States government. /08. The current rose so high that it covered telephone poles. Governor Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement from the Pittston Coal Company related to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood. MayA group of Buffalo Creek disaster survivors traveled to Pittstons To address this problem, two of the main actions taken by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (the federal mine safety agency at that time, now MSHA) were to strengthen the regulations governing the construction of dams by coal mining companies, and to develop in-house technical expertise on impoundment safety. 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. When the water set it down again, it just flattened out on the ground. AprilOver 1,000 residents registered claims with Pittston. Destroyed homes and businesses are piled up against each other in the Dingess Hollow area of Lorado, W.Va., after the Buffalo Creek Dam broke on Feb. 26, 1972. Dam Break'. He lives in my building. (3) U.S. Congress. (ABA Required Disclosures). No dollar amount could ever erase for the survivors what happened at Buffalo Creek. 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. Stern met with plaintiffs and obtained settlement authority. EPA had initially estimated the spill would take four-to-six weeks to clean up, however, three years later they were still cleaning up. hearings, 91 witnesses, and 2,000 pages of transcript that Pittston has shown They lost loved ones, their homes, their neighbors, their community. I remember that just like it was yesterday., Today's breaking news and more in your inbox, Copyright The Intelligencer | https://www.theintelligencer.net | 1500 Main Street, Wheeling, WV 26003 | 304-233-0100. But it brings back memories. After the Dam Broke, Cries for Control, Business Week, March 11, 1972. June 2, 1971BMCs vice president asked Pittstons legal counsel about 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. Stern describes victims losing family members before their eyes, and the devastation caused by the flood. We saw the water lift up our house, said Enda Baisden Short, recalling for. the front to drag them to paradise california. A Buffalo Creek native, Victor M. Depta, gets at this idea of recurring tragedy in a 1973 poem, written not long after the flood. 3 every day. The community continues to honor and remember those lost during the Buffalo Creek mining disaster. JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTOR. . 344.754 S839. ", Dealing with Disasters: Some Thoughts on the Adequacy of the Legal System, Coming from West Virginia: An Interview with Songwriter Tom Breiding, The Legendary Language of the Appalachian Holler, Prisoners Like Us: German POW and Black American Solidarity, Hysteria, Indigenous Identities, and Cocaine Bear, Fast and Pluribus: Impacts of a Globalizing McDonalds, How Rap Taught (Some of) the Hip Hop Generation Black History, About the American Prison Newspapers Collection, Submissions: American Prison Newspapers Collection. a vote of 12 million 3 above its impounded sediment. Instead, the builders end-dumped and shoved loosely compacted layers of coarse refuse across the valley. The Charleston Gazette reporting on the rising death toll of the Buffalo Creek Disaster and Pittstons PR office calling the disaster an act of God. Mine Safety and Health Administration) to the Buffalo Creek area a few days after the disaster. Create a password that only you will remember. A separate settlement for survivors amounted to about $13,000 per plaintiff. February 5, 1968Buffalo Creek resident wrote the Governor of West Virginia (the diversity amount-in-controversy amount at the time). received English National Coal Boards booklet Spoil Heaps and Lagoons warning Bridges were smashed to bits. gave way, killing eight people. markets. As the wave moved down the mountain valley it wiped out much of what stood in its path. G. ERALD . Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. The state of West Virginia also sued Pittston for $100 million for disaster and relief damages, but Governor Arch A. Moore settled that case for just $1 million three days before leaving office in 1977. It wasnt if Buffalo Creek would ever happen again, but when. The socio-psychology of all this was probed and covered in an award-winning 1976 book by Kai T. Erikson. Jack Spadaro, a mine safety investigator and environmental specialist, has made it his lifes work to prevent such disasters from happening again. Those who survived saw corpses everywhere. Click the card to flip Definition 1 / 149 * the author, former civil rights attorney employed at Arnold and Porter (large DC firm) * lead attorney in Buffalo Creek case Click the card to flip Flashcards Learn Test Match Created by Mariam_Salman27 Terms in this set (149) 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. You talk about another terror, a man goes from high water and being scared to being up in the sky, so I went through that, Pierson said. Ben A. Franklin, Coal Dam Curbs Urged by Nader, New York Times, March 5, 1972. Logan Flood Toll 66; 400 Missing, Hundreds Search Disaster Area; Cause of Break Gets Attention, Charleston Daily Mail, February 28, 1972. But following a bitter labor strike in 1989, and the declining profitability of its minerals division throughout the 1990s, Pittston began to wind down its coal operations. As a result many possible . 3 was being filled at a rate of about 1,000 tons of refuse a day, carried from the coal preparation plant to the dam in 30-ton trucks. Teaching with Reveal Digitals American Prison Newspapers Collection, a finalist for the National Book Award the year of its release, Buffalo Creek Revisited: Deconstructing Kai Eriksons Stereotypes,, The Rumble and the Dark: Regional Newspaper Framing of the Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster of 1972, Resilience in Post Disaster Societies: From Crisis to Development, Buffalo Creek Revisited: Deconstructing Kai Erikson's Stereotypes, "Do We Really Want to Go Down That Path? Immediately following the failure at Buffalo Creek, representatives from the Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey formed a task force to study coal waste hazards. But the disaster will never be forgotten. The state then cited Pittston for violations but failed to follow up with inspections. Pittston, meanwhile, would inform its investors that the 1974 settlement that had come with one of the survivors' lawsuits did not impact the company's profit margin. More than a dozen towns were inundated and 125 people lost their lives. two telephone books worth of victim statements. These cracks were a clear indication of the saturation and subsequent destabilization of the structure, but no evacuation order was issued. Less than a year later, in February 1971, Dam No. April 16, 1971WVDNR Inspector recommended an emergency spillway on Dam In 1960, Buffalo Mining had constructed its first gob dam, or impoundment, near the mouth of Middle Fork in 1960. Construction is carried out according to the approved plan. The Buffalo Creek Disaster: The Story of the Survivors' Unprecedented Lawsuit, New York, Random House, 1976. I go to fire departments and teach about nuclear fallout. Ewen and Lewis also include the story of another survivor who spent five months rebuilding his damaged home rather than letting authorities tear it down (it had been deemed to be damaged beyond repair). From 1962 to 1972, three dams were built in on the middle fork of Buffalo Creek in Logan County. December 17, 1971WVDNR Inspector recommended an emergency spillway on As of December 2014, some 331 of these facilities were rated as either holding a high or significant safety hazard meaning likely loss of life in the former case, and significant economic/environmental damage in the latter case. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Low 54F. The second commission, the Citizens Commission, was established to counter this bias. At approximately 8 a.m. on Feb. 26, 1972, a man-made coal slurry impoundment dam, which was operated by the Pittston Coal Company, burst following a prolonged period of heavy rainfall. Click for copy. shares to 1,217 shares. amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, various state, local and federal government agencies had initially come together to help plan for the recovery of the Buffalo Creek area. I was thrown from side to side and crushed, he recounted, my insides was crushed so hard it just seemed my eyeballs was trying to pop out, and I couldnt get my breath at all. 3 was rising one or two inches per hour. Many cases can take months if not years to reach trial and settlement. July 3, 1974Plaintiffs/Pittston $13.5 million settlement agreement filed with The Corps repeatedly billed the state $ 3.7 million for this work, but Moore kept the invoices confidential and didn't pay them. of Inquiry into the Buffalo Creek Floods documents. Beyond coal, and headquartered in New York City, Pittston had other diverse holdings an oil company, a large trucking firm, the Brinks armored car company, and forty percent of the warehouses in New York City. Barbara Brunty watched from higher ground with her 3-year-old daughter as their home was swept away along with the girls Christmas presents: a toy motorcycle, a kitchen set and a Chatty Cathy doll. For many, Eriksons book became a definitive take on Buffalo Creek, as well as Appalachian culture as a whole. George Vecsey, West Virginia Flood Toll At 60 With Hundreds Lost, New York Times, February 28, 1972. Ive got uranium and all kinds of radioactive stuff in my bedroom. Were going to live here as long as he works here, she said, adding that without the dam, we could be over here safely.. Contents The buffalo creek flood a sample Investigation Results Initial Settlement Proposal (Buffalo Creek) and Pittston's First Counter Offer - Stern wanted 32.5 mil (people would've been happy with 10.5 mil) - Pittston came back with 3 mil offer . 1977 edition of Gerald Stern's book on class-action lawsuit he brought against Pittston Coal Co. on behalf of Buffalo Creek survivors and settled in 1974. 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. 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. I just got done buying a Geiger counter and rebuilding it for someone because everybodys getting afraid of Russia right now.. And by 1968, the company was dumping more gob at a third location, another 600 feet upstream. WV. 1955(March) Pittston coal refuse dam broke at Lick Fork, Virginia. Disaster at Buffalo Creek Health and safety engineer Jack Spadaro was teaching at West Virginia University when the disaster occurred. I was so scared. process loss claims without admitting any responsibility. In addition to its coal debris, the slurry wave picked up an abrasive and destructive mixture of semi-rotten trees, rocks, and sediment as it went, gouging out the land and becoming a more lethal force capable of battering and sweeping away all in its path. In 1854, he married Margaretha Weidner (1832-1910). The three dams also served as something of a crude pollution-prevention system: filtering, settling out, and retaining the dirty prep plant particles and toxins found in the coal wastewater, also enabling some reuse of the water in processing. Jules Loh, Associated Press, A Lie About God From Paradise to Hell: The Morning When False Alarms Turned to Reality, The Sunday Messenger (Athens, OH), front page, March 5, 1972. Senator). Public Service Commission and Water Mine Safety Health Administration lists 570 active coal impoundments across the country. and made decisions on future trial structure. He argues that stereotypesparticularly the white trash stereotypes depicting Appalachians as lazy, ignorant, and hopelessallow for the continued exploitation of Appalachia by industry. Aerial photograph from 'The Herald Dispatch' (Huntington, WV) captures some of the enormous damage in the Buffalo Creek valley, showing collection of homes uprooted and floated down the valley, covering roads and rail lines. 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. its motion to dismiss. The Buffalo Creek flood was a disaster that occurred on February 26, 1972, when the Pittston Coal Company's coal slurry impoundment dam #3, located on a hillside in Logan County, West Virginia, burst, four days after having been declared 'satisfactory' by a federal mine inspector. Ralph Nader letter to Congressional committees raises dangers of coal dams. WVU is an EEO/Affirmative Action employer Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran. As customary each year, the service began with a reading of the names of the deceased by the individuals in the room. Just flattened out on the Middle Fork hollow were smashed to bits registered trademarks of.! Briskly in others, its rapids gurgling compacted layers of coarse refuse across the country on Creek! 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