Buy Now. The plaintiffs settled out of court for $13.5 million in 1974, with each individual receiving an average of $13,000 after legal costs. They flew me out and we landed right here on this road. Contents The buffalo creek flood a sample Investigation Results One resident had even written to the governor a few years earlier saying if something wasnt done about the dams, were all going to be washed away.We saw the water lift up our house. However, adequate funding was never appropriated by teh West Virginia legislature to enforce the law. with little windows and doors and a small latch on . find dam #3 satisfactory. A motion to make the resolution binding on Pittston management was defeated by of Inquiry into the Buffalo Creek Floods documents. When the deluge receded, he saw bodies along the long walk to check on relatives, images that have been seared into the veterans mind. ", 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. Associated Press wire story reporting "400 missing" in a front-page story that ran in The Tuscaloosa Times newspaper in Alabama. That film was selected for the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2005. 281-298, Appalachian Journal, Vol. All Rights Reserved. Pittstons Erikson, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. As if some foreign enemy had flown in and nuked the place. 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 Virginias Secretary of State at the time, Jay Rockefeller (D) who became a candidate for Governor running against Arch Moore in the 1972 fall election also favored banning strip mining. He reported there was no danger of a washout of Dam No. The "suspenseful and completely absorbing story" (San Francisco Chronicle) of how survivors of the worst coal-mining disaster in history triumphed over corporate irresponsibilitywritten by the young lawyer who took on their case and won.One Saturday morning in February 1972, an impoundment dam owned by the Pittston Coal Company burst, sending a 130 million gallon, 25 foot tidal wave of . Although the Governors Commission had referred the case to the Logan County, West Virginia prosecutor for possible legal action against Pittston Coal Company and its subsidiary, nothing came of it. The headlines the next day played the catastrophe as a flood disaster, as there had been heavy rain. Media Blow Held Worse Than Flood, Charleston Gazette, March 8, 1972. Creek dams. Buffalo Creek Disaster Gerald M. Stern 3.68 2,196 ratings176 reviews One Saturday morning in February 1972, an impoundment dam owned by the Pittston Coal Company burst, sending a 130 million gallon, 25 foot tidal wave of water, sludge, and debris crashing into southern West Virginia's Buffalo Creek hollow. It wasnt if Buffalo Creek would ever happen again, but when. Wallace Adkins of Robinette, tried to escape the on-rushing wall of water by loading up his family car. October 23, 1890: "Wreck on the C&O" November 4, 1985: Floods devastate West Virginia. 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. At that time, 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. Pierson said he still feels a bit of anger over the aftermath of the flood. a claims office in Buffalo Creek.Pittston moved for summary judgment because Pittston Robert Weedall, West Virginias climatologist, noted in later remarks that yes, Act of God is a legal term, but there were other perhaps more apt legal terms that might apply to what had happened in Buffalo Creek, such as involuntary manslaughter or criminal negligence. The record, however, would prove that acts of man had everything to do with what happened at Buffalo Creek. In 2012, a section of embankment being worked on collapsed at a coal slurry pond in northern West Virginia. 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.. to let the plaintiffs see Pittstons insurance documents and refused to keep As an article in Vox noted, this kind of stereotyping is on full display in the popular book and film Hillbilly Elegy. The problem of coal waste impoundments in Appalachia and all across America has not gone away since the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster. Buffalo Creek Disaster is not just about heroes but a dramatic tale that involves the loss of lives and property and the legal war containing a litigation drama that resulted in the payment of the settlement. 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 Charleston Gazette account: How I got out of that water, I dont know I rode the house a long ways. Or something else altogether? #3 in his inspection report. 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. Robert Shy, among those in the West Virginia Army National Guard who helped during the crisis, flew helicopters up and down the valley delivering water and milk and picking up dazed and injured survivors. 0 ratings 0% found this document useful (0 votes) Justice v. Pittston class action by now-Judge Phillip Gaujot on behalf of 348 children 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. However, he did question the ability of the overflow pipes in Dam No. 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. 2023 West Virginia University. 16, No. A few years later, construction began on water and sewage systems, and some permanent housing was built. The association bought habitat structures to further help form the pools that trout prefer. "A Town Stood Here," Life Magazine, 10-10-1972. 1970Pittstons London insurance underwriters inquired about all of its 1929). The wall of water exploded problems with implementation. Logan Flood Toll 66; 400 Missing, Hundreds Search Disaster Area; Cause of Break Gets Attention, Charleston Daily Mail, February 28, 1972. Is the unique Appalachian dialect the preserved language of Elizabethan England? Alvid Davis was working outside his home in the community of Stowe when he looked up and saw the flood waters coming, according to an Associated Press report of February 28, 1972. and damage claims. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. One resident at the scene, later quoted in in Kai T. Eriksons book. I was terrified of water, Pierson said. When the water set it down again, it just flattened out on the ground. Our lives, our communities the coal company created it, the coal company destroyed it.. We saw the water lift up our house, said Enda Baisden Short, recalling for The Herald Dispatch of Huntington, West Virginia that she and her husband had run from their home early that Saturday morning just prior to coal waste flood. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; G. ERALD . Boulders donated by another mine operator were strategically placed in the creek. Bridges were smashed to bits. buffalo creek disaster 1 - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Modern Marvels: The Buffalo Creek Disaster (History Channel production), YouTube.com (9:27). Chance of rain 100%. two telephone books worth of victim statements. Downstream, the coal wastewater theoretically filtered through the dams would then emerge in a cleaner state in Buffalo Creek and beyond. How much was the settlement? Vicki Smith, Feds OK Coal Slurry Dam Expansion, GazetteMail.com, March 25, 2013. An accounting of the disaster, and multiple investigations, would then proceed to piece together what had happened there, focused on the coal mining and dam building. 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. The tragedy resulted in a $13.5 million class action settlement, and led to the 1973 Dam . Twenty-seven years of follow-up research by teams of both . One of the photos used in Disaster on Buffalo Creek: A Citizens' Report on Criminal Negligence in a West Virginia Mining Community, 1972. Have a correction or comment about this article? First Lieut. Volunteers picked up trash around the creek. amzn_assoc_region = "US"; September 30, 1870: Harpers Ferry flood. Buffalo Creek Disaster YE HAO GBL395 Summer 2014 Synopsis: . 1. When Stern was talking to a former Pittston engineer, he learned something shocking. Its not even past.. about her fears that the dam would collapse. 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. We won't share it with anyone else. May 1, 1971Pittston acquiredBMCand assumed sole management 1942Buchanan County coal refuse pile explosion covered the railroad tracks They are used to hard times. From 1962 to 1972, three dams were built in on the middle fork of Buffalo Creek in Logan County. Pittston Quits the Coal Business, Buffalo CreekFlood.org. Harry Caudill's "Theirs Be The Power". The Buffalo Creek Flood and Disaster: Official Report from the Governors Ad Hoc Commission of Inquiry, 1973 (PDF of actual report at Marshall University). George Vecsey, West Virginians Living in Hollows Fear That Mine Waste Piles in Their Areas Will Cause Next Flood, New York Times, March 6, 1972. Liz Tackett, retired former director of the Buffalo Creek Memorial Library, opens up a memorial service for survivors of the Buffalo Creek Flood on Friday, Feb. 24. He said he feels his experience with the flood is what led him to lead that lifestyle. Click for copy. In March 1968, DNR notified the Logan County Prosecuting Attorney of Pearl Woodrums letter, but no action was taken at the local level or by the state. case is assigned to Judge K.K. 12, No. It brings back old memories of being in Vietnam, he said. Buffalo Creek Special Series, Charleston Gazette, February 1997. Russell Mokhiber, Buffalo Creek, Chapter 5, Corporate Crime & Violence: Big Business Power and the Abuse of the Public Trust, San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1998. One newspaper, reporting on the study and the Senate hearings, used the headlines Army Corps of Engineers Says Dam Doomed From Start (below). In the year 2000, increased attention was focused on the regulation of coal waste impoundments following a failure near Inez, Kentucky. Yet, as all who lived in those parts knew well, this was a coal disaster, not an act of God, as the coal company would later claim. The National Research Council's 2001 report to Congress on coal waste impoundments. a federal safety standard prohibiting refuse piles from impeding drainage or impounding The state then cited Pittston for violations but failed to follow up with inspections. Its nine members, however, were either sympathetic to the coal industry, or government officials whose departments might have been complicit in the dams failures. Penny Loeb's 2007 book, "Moving Mountains". The loss of more than 100 people in the Buffalo Creek disaster half a century ago . Hufford, M. (1997) The memorial marker at the mouth of Buffalo Creek naming those who died in the Buffalo Creek flood. Associated Press, Pittstons Federal Flood Suit Settled Out of Court, Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, WV), July 6, 1974, p. 1. 3/4 (SPRING/SUMMER 2009), pp. Committee in a lawsuit against Pittston. But the company challenged each of the violations and paid only $275 of the $1.3 million in fines originally proposed. #3 in his inspection report. AprilOver 1,000 residents registered claims with Pittston. And for the survivors of the Buffalo Creek Disaster, there was little real recovery. George Vecsey, Two Rival Inquiries Are Begun into Flood in West Virginia, New York Times, March 12, 1972, p. 70. Both the Governors Commission and the Citizens Commission set about their investigations, and each group began holding public hearings and collecting information regarding the disaster. Arnold and Porter noticed Pittstons president and vice-presidents depositions As of 1987, Pittston was still among the ten largest coal companies in the U.S. As the wave moved down the mountain valley it wiped out much of what stood in its path. Engineers Say Buffalo Dam Doomed at Start, Logan Banner (Logan, WV), May 30, 1972. November 7, 1980: Ferrell coal mine disaster. of 38 West Virginia Coal Waste Dams warning about Aberfam. Rita Colistra, The Rumble and The Dark: Regional Newspaper Framing of the Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster of 1972, Journal of Appalachian Studies, Vol. 2 gave way, quickly followed by Dam No. In reaction to the flood, Hechler said: The people are prisoners of the coal industry., Hechlers quote is included in the media theorist Rita Colistras article in the Journal of Appalachian Studies, which also includes a quote from Ralph Nader. of their damage claims. At one point, West Virginia Governor Arch Moore, complaining that the states image was getting a bad rap from the media, closed the Buffalo Creek area to reporters. 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 . Invalid password or account does not exist. When forced to give up these long-standing ties with familiar places and people, the . 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. That year, the Buffalo Creek Watershed Association was formed. The couple had nine children. The Corps repeatedly billed the state $ 3.7 million for this work, but Moore kept the invoices confidential and didn't pay them. Logan County West Virginia Man, 1997. 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. 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. No evidence of an act of God was found by the Commission. the front to drag them to paradise california. 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. There had been emergency relief, but little community redevelopment. A Town Stood Here, Life, October 10, 1972. Rebecca Bailey's 2008 book, "Matewan: Before The Massacre". The cause of the Buffalo Creek failure was analyzed, an inventory of coal waste impoundments was compiled, and emergency inspections were conducted to identify other potentially hazardous sites. On Saturday, the community showed they are still standing with a room full of survivors coming . In the last week of his second term in 1977, Moore accepted a $1 million payment from Pittston Coal Company to settle accounts from the Buffalo Creek Disaster. Disaster at Buffalo Creek. Among those pressing for action in Washington was consumer advocate Ralph Nader, well known by then for taking on politicians and corporations. April 1, 1974 Pittston moved to dismiss absent plaintiffs, plaintiffs claiming psychic injury while they were physically away from Buffalo Creek during the flood. The result of the dam bursting was 132 million gallons of black wastewater being unleashed onto the 16 communities that encompass Buffalo Creek. Today is the 49th anniversary of one of the worst mining catastrophes in West Virginia history, the Buffalo Creek Disaster. Black water was pumped into pools behind the dams and dams filtered the deposits so that relatively clear water could run out their downstream face. K.T. 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. 27, No. 2 held and halted the water. In the U.S. Congress at the time, federal legislation was being considered to regulate strip mining, and the Buffalo Creek disaster figured into the debate. 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. In March 1967, a partial collapse at one of the dams caused some flooding in the hollow, alarming residents already concerned about the structures. 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. 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