Paul Cowan, Book Review of Gerald Sterns The Buffalo Creek Disaster: The Story of the Survivors Unprecedented Lawsuit, The New York Times Book Review, September 5, 1976, pp.6-7. case is assigned to Judge K.K. BMCthen builds dam #2. amzn_assoc_title = "Related Books & DVD"; For additional stories at this website on the history of coal and coal mining, see for example, the following: Paradise: 1971 (about a John Prine song, strip mining in Muhlenberg County, KY, and the demise of a small town); Mountain Warrior (profile of Kentucky author and coal-field activist, Harry Caudill, noted for his famous book, Night Comes to The Cumberlands and his life-long critique of Appalachian strip mining); Giant Shovel on I-70 (about strip mining in southeastern Ohio during the 1960s and `70s and the use of giant strip-mining shovels there); Coal & The Kennedys, (featuring Kennedy family involvement with Appalachian coal communities, deep mine safety, environmental protection, and related political issues, 1960s-2010s); Sixteen Tons, 1950s (the famous Tennessee Ernie Ford song and some coal mining history, 1940s-1960s); and, G.E.s Hot Coal Ad, 2005 (a General Electric TV ad that features a new breed of coal miner). Pierson said the school he was attending, Lorado Grade School, was destroyed in the flood, and its principal, who he identified as Mr. Ramey, was killed. In the end, more than 125 people were killed, at least 1,000 injured, and some 4,000 left homeless. No silver spoon, no silver cup., While visiting Buffalo Creek, Breiding stood at the very spot where the dams had once been. One of the country's worst mining-related disasters occurred February 26, 1972, on Buffalo Creek in Logan County. Article Citation: The state later had to pay the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers more than $9 million for recovery work along Buffalo Creek. The association used settlement money to start fixing the creek. 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. November 7, 1980: Ferrell coal mine disaster. 2 held and halted the water. EPA had initially estimated the spill would take four-to-six weeks to clean up, however, three years later they were still cleaning up. A search of Public Service Commission records in response to Pearl Woodrums complaint failed to produce any proof that dams No.1 and No. and $50 million punitive damages. 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. Long after the Feb. 26, 1972, disaster, the poisoned creek had no life. I'm interested in (please check all that apply). The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act Of Man, Transcript (undated). Kapp, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; Events Leading To The Buffalo Creek Disaster, BuffaloCreekFlood.org. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. George Vecsey, Homeless Thousands Await Future in Flooded Valley, New York Times (front page), February 29, 1972. Tempers flared there as one local man tore into Randolph. For many, Eriksons book became a definitive take on Buffalo Creek, as well as Appalachian culture as a whole. Last Update:31 January2019 A separate settlement for survivors amounted to about $13,000 per plaintiff. By the days end, hundreds of homes and vehicles were destroyed, thousands were left homeless, and 125 men, women, and children were dead. (ABA Required Disclosures). Pittston filed a lengthy memorandum setting forth new facts and arguments to support The problem of coal waste impoundments in Appalachia and all across America has not gone away since the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster. Dam Break'. Mine Safety and Health Administration) to the Buffalo Creek area a few days after the disaster. 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. February 1972. This work revealed the inadequacies that existed at that time in the safety of many of the dams constructed by the coal mining industry. It took a mere 15 minutes to totally fail, Spadaro said. From 1962 to 1972, three dams were built in on the middle fork of Buffalo Creek in Logan County. Sources: The Herald Dispatch, newspaper of Huntington, WV, Thomas Marsh, and the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. February 22A federal mine inspector andBMCsafety engineer Or something else altogether? National Guard helicopters picked up survivors and delivered supplies. It wasnt long after the flood that lawsuits were brought against Pittston Coal, the company responsible for the slurry dams. McClintock was a field worker for the Black Lung Association, an organization focused on the debilitating disease common to miners. Tom Breiding, a Pittsburgh singer-songwriter with West Virginia roots, saw this firsthand when he traveled to Buffalo Creek for research while composing his 2008 album The Unbroken Circle: Songs of the West Virginia Coalfields. It would just go from one hillside to the other. No dollar amount could ever erase for the survivors what happened at Buffalo Creek. The first was an ad hoc commission established by West Virginia Governor Arch Moore. However, he did question the ability of the overflow pipes in Dam No. 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 Concept 2 . It wasnt if Buffalo Creek would ever happen again, but when. Ewen and Lewis highlight dozens of statements from Eriksons book that demonstrate, they believe, his reinforcement of stereotypes and his blaming the victim mentality toward the residents of Buffalo Creek. A coal mine explodes - and a dam fails. December 17, 1971WVDNR Inspector recommended an emergency spillway on 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 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. West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Field Foundation proposed a resolution that Pittston should spend more money to For as it turns out, there are coal waste impoundments, and coal waste disposal methods, of many kinds. BMCfeared 2 (Spring 1973), pp. PopHistoryDig.com, January 31, 2019. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; 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. Coal Co. v. De Wese, 30 Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement at the end of his second term. But the water-soaked engine would not start, and as he reached for his wife, the flood just carried her away. Adkins did manage to hold onto one daughter and two sons, but his wife and two other children could not be located. survivor syndrome, what is known today as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). and denies the motion for the time being while plaintiffs obtain full discovery. When the water set it down again, it just flattened out on the ground. A Pittston Coal Group decal sticker listing some of the company's mining locations in the VA-WV area. 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. SOUTH MAN Sunday marked 51 years since the Buffalo Creek Disaster, the worst flood in West Virginia's history. "$1, 000, 001 Settlement in Flood Suit," Charleston Gazette, 11-15-1977. Survivors of 1972 Dam Disaster Accept $13.5-Million Settlement, New York Times, July 6, 1974. Share Buffalo Creek Flood. He spoke with residents, including a woman who said she lost eighteen relatives in the flood. The United States declined to sue Pittston for cleanup costs. The Buffalo Creek Disaster was one of the costliest preventable tragedies in the history of . Public Service Commission and Water The Buffalo Creek Disaster February 26, 1972, LoganWV.US (website), History and Nostalgia/ Preserving Logan County History. 3 failed. In 1971, Pittston was cited for over 5,000 safety violations at its mines nationally. Buffalo Creek Special Series, Charleston Gazette, February 1997. 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. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The tragedy being spoken of is the Buffalo . Erin L. McCoy, The U.S. Has Nearly 600 Coal Waste Sites. The state sued the company for $100,000,000 dollars but then Gov. 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. Young draws parallels between Appalachia and the colonialist exploitation of Third World countries, as well as the exploitation of communities of color, such as Flint, Michigan. West Virginia Congressman Ken Heckler (D) had offered a bill in 1971 to ban all surface coal mining. 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. Thank you. Associated Press (Man, WV. Mimi Pickering, my wife, made two documentary films about the disaster. Out of the total settlement, Arnold and Porter took a legal fee of $3 million. million deductible in response to the Dola, W. Va., dam failure. Jules Lob, Buffalo Creek Now A Valley of Death, Charleston Gazette, March 5, 1972. Buy Now. 1. 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. 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. Click for copy. by refuse-pile dams. He is forbidden from distributing the memorandum. . The news of the Buffalo Creek Disaster broke variously across the nation the next few days, in part due to the difficulty of getting to the site. The black wall of water was later estimated to have moved at a rate of seven feet per second. On the morning of February 26, 1972, the failure of three coal slurry dams let loose a tidal wave of destruction upon the Buffalo Creek hollow in Logan county, West Virginia. Young details the harm of negative Appalachian stereotypes. make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website, Online Exhibit /Special Collections, Marshall University. High around 75F. Approximately 550 homes were destroyed, and another 900-plus . February 25Because of heavy rains, dam #3 was rising 1-2 inches per hour. 3), Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1972. Twenty-seven years of follow-up research by teams of both . 1904The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad completed its Charleston, W.Va., You can also read the documentation to learn about Wordfence's blocking tools, or visit wordfence.com to learn more about Wordfence. It took just over 15 minutes. Click for copy. For additional stories at this website on the history of coal and coal mining, see for example, the following: Thanks for visiting and if you like what you find here, please. 2 had ever been formally approved by the state. [I]f you dont do some-thing, were all going to be washed away., By June 1970, Pittston had acquired the Buffalo Mining Company. UPI photographer Leo Gardner, one of the first outsiders to reach the area reported, Lorado was wiped out. Another early report from the devastation noted: 52 bodies lying on both sides of the road running alongside Buffalo Creek. Some drowned in the floodwaters, while others were buried by landslides, as a thick muck had moved along with the coal water. HD Media news reporter Dylan Vidovich can be contacted via email at dvidovich@hdmediallc.com. Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons. The the court. July 3, 1974Plaintiffs/Pittston $13.5 million settlement agreement filed with Ken Ward, Jr., Agencies Failed to Protect People, Inspector Recalls, Charleston Gazette, Tuesday, February 25, 1997. The Senate subcommittee would later issue some three volumes of material and by June 1972 would call for new legislation to prevent disasters like Buffalo Creek, offering a Mined Area Protection Bill, a measure, however, that would not be adopted. But those improved practices didnt last. 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. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. In just a few brief moments, 125 people were killed, 1,100 were injured, and over 4,000 were left without homes [1] as the result of a collapsed coal waste dam. By 1972, the third dam ranged from 45-to-60 feet in height, and the Middle Fork had become a series of black pools. The moving wall of wastewater did its damage in seconds, in repeated fashion, as it moved down the hollow. Then I fell off in the water. West Virginia: Disaster in the Hollow, Time, Monday, March 13, 1972. 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. examining the plaintiffs. . 3) was built over Dam No. October 23, 1890: "Wreck on the C&O" November 4, 1985: Floods devastate West Virginia. two telephone books worth of victim statements. ofBMC. 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). His words paint a picture of a bleak future for a people suffering from a cyclical system of abuse. The people of Appalachia seem to be forever poised at some vague mid-point between ability and disability, is one such Erikson statement. Army personnel, the Red Cross, state and county officials were all on the scene by then as well, trying to feed, clothe and comfort survivors. To view our latest e-Edition click the image at left. The Buffalo Creek (W.Va.) flood is one of the most extensively examined and longest followed disasters in the psychiatric study of trauma. In 1974, the 645 Buffalo Creek residents suing Pittston Coal settled for $13.5 million, which amounted to approximately $13,000 paid out to each plaintiff. Ben A. Franklin, Flood Survivors Sue Mine Concern; Plaintiffs Ask $64-Million Seek Damages Over Survivor Syndrome; 800 Pages of Testimony; A Sound Like Thunder, New York Times, April 18, 1973. 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. 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. Disaster at Buffalo Creek Health and safety engineer Jack Spadaro was teaching at West Virginia University when the disaster occurred. Senator). 3 every day. They also worried about the mining practice of dumping coal mining slag or gob coal mining waste into the dams. not in the Prince lawsuit filed in federal district court. and damage claims. Mine Safety Health Administration lists 570 active coal impoundments across the country. Mary Walton, Triangle of Blame Placed in Disaster, Charleston Gazette, May 30, 1972, p.1. Brittany Patterson, The Cautionary Tale of the Largest Coal Ash Waste Site in the U.S., AlleghenyFront.org, June 22, 2018. They also worried about the mining practice of dumping coal mining slag or gob coal mining waste into the dams. Stereotypesparticularly the white trash stereotypes depicting Appalachians as lazy, ignorant, and hopelessallow for the continued exploitation of Appalachia by industry. July 1971Pittstons vice-president of industrial engineering and training 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. Nothing is the same around this place. 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. Part of that is to tell the survivors' story, to make it impossible . 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. I was terrified of water, Pierson said. Hundreds of families lost everything their homes, their belongings, their memorabilia. (AP Photo/John Raby). 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. They are used to hard times. By September 1972, the two competing West Virginia commissions one from the Governor, and the other a Citizens Commission issued their reports. In 1977, Governor Moore, with three days left in office, accepted a settlement offer of $1 million for a suit in which the state sought $100 million from the coal company. the front to drag them to paradise california. [1] For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Buffalo Creek flood. Pittston by then had developed a reputation for poor safety practices, and was ranked second nationally in the number of fatal and non-fatal mine accidents. 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. 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. of their damage claims. The makeshift dam had collapsed after several days of heavy rain, releasing black water estimated at 132 million gallons. In Buffalo Creek Revisited: Deconstructing Kai Eriksons Stereotypes, the sociologists Lynda Ann Ewen and Julia A. Lewis write: Eriksons conclusions about the people of Appalachia have along with studies of snake handlers, come to define what students who study sociology know about all of Appalachia. They assert that Erikson validates the national perceptions of Appalachians as peculiar, isolated, and backward and that Everything in Its Path has become a part of the social construction of the modern stereotype of Appalachia.. The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site. Privacy Policy Contact Us to let the plaintiffs see Pittstons insurance documents and refused to keep . "Coal: A Human History", 2016 edition. UPI, Buffalo Creek Flood Inquiry [i.e., special grand jury] Is Off Until After Election, New York Times, September 13, 1972. Somewhere down in this valley I was born, Breiding sings on the album, adopting the persona of a fourth-generation coal miner who never left home. When the deluge receded, he saw bodies along the long walk to check on relatives, images that have been seared into the veterans mind. that the ultimate effect of [any] claims [related to the Buffalo Creek disaster] The Pittston Coal Co., meanwhile, continued extracting coal in the Buffalo Creek area through its subsidiary there. "A Town Stood Here," Life Magazine, 10-10-1972. A Buffalo Creek native, Victor M. Depta, gets at this idea of recurring tragedy in a 1973 poem, written not long after the flood. MSHA said 49 impoundments pose a significant hazard because of the potential damage from a failure. As the wave moved down the mountain valley it wiped out much of what stood in its path. Like Kalgan mentions these cases sometimes end up "spending more money on litigation costs than on payments that end up in injured plaintiffs pockets" (Kagan, 138). The only warning we had was just a neighbor woman had spotted it and just pulled in front of our house and hollered, Run, the dam has broke! remembered survivor Shirley Marcum. Many coal waste impoundments had to be either modified or closed to eliminate hazardous conditions. 3 was rising one or two inches per hour. Senator Ed Muskie (D-NH) in one photo, then running for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination, shown campaigning ahead of the New Hampshire primary. Pittstons Oil Division applied to Maines Department of Environmental Protection Pittston announced in 1999 that it was leaving the coal business. But it brings back memories. bringing the total to 625, and $64 million in damages. U. S. Department of Interior, Task Force to Study Coal Waste Hazards, Preliminary Analysis of the Coal Refuse Dam Failure at Saunders, West Virginia February 26, 1972, Washington, D.C., March 12, 1972. Click for copy. Six years later, it added a second dam, 600 feet further upstream. Chronology of a Disaster, BuffaloCreek Flood.org. I finally caught hold of the railroad with one hand and pulled my myself out. 36, No. Hope Wanes for 94 Listed Missing in Logan; Known Flood Dead is 88, Charleston Gazette, March 4, 1972. Suite 401 Hall. Debris was everywhere. Instead, the builders end-dumped and shoved loosely compacted layers of coarse refuse across the valley. November 1968Consolidation Coal Company mine explosion at Farmington, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines (W. A. Wahler & Associates), Analysis of Coal Refuse Dam Failure. Tort Law: The Buffalo Creek Disaster; Tort Law: The Buffalo Creek Disaster . No criminal charges were brought against the mining executives for their negligence in the creation and operation of the illegal and unstable coal waste dams. Ralph Nader letter to Congressional committees raises dangers of coal dams. 3 on the Middle Fork was born out of the age-old practice in the coal fields of disposing of waste material and was constructed without utilizing technology developed for earthen dams and without using or consulting with professional persons qualified to design and build such a structure. Sunshine and clouds mixed. Last updated on December 30, 2015. 1942Buchanan County coal refuse pile explosion covered the railroad tracks What happened after the Buffalo Creek disaster? The U.S. Our lives, our communities the coal company created it, the coal company destroyed it.. 93-118, Stanford Law Review, Vol. Death in Buffalo Hollow, Newsweek, March 13, 1972. Hall also asked Pittston Stern met with plaintiffs and obtained settlement authority. Hufford, M. (1997) The memorial marker at the mouth of Buffalo Creek naming those who died in the Buffalo Creek flood. 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