National Guard helicopters picked up survivors and delivered supplies. 1970Pittstons London insurance underwriters inquired about all of its Gallery: The Buffalo Creek Flood, Herald-Dispatch.com, February 26, 2014. (2) Stern, G.M. dam will hold. Creek dams. Rebecca Bailey's 2008 book, "Matewan: Before The Massacre". is not a proper party, to strike certain allegations in the complaint, and in the 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. 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. amzn_assoc_title = "Related Books & DVD"; The plaintiffs settled out of court for $13.5 million in 1974, with each individual receiving an average of $13,000 after legal costs. Field Foundation proposed a resolution that Pittston should spend more money to Article Citation: 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. July 1971Pittstons vice-president of industrial engineering and training It would go this way on this side of the hill and take a house out; take one house out of all the rows, and then go back the other way. 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. Pittston announced in 1999 that it was leaving the coal business. 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. At that time, 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. He reported there was no danger of a washout of Dam No. Harry Caudill's "Theirs Be The Power". Scholarship on the disaster also helps us get to know the peoplethe victims, the survivorsinvolved. The Pittston Coal Co., meanwhile, continued extracting coal in the Buffalo Creek area through its subsidiary there. This dam failure released 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry into the Emory and Clinch rivers. recommended an emergency spillway on Dam #3 in his inspection report. 128-129. 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. 1929). Pearl Woodrum letter, Feb 1968 Interiors study had been prompted by a coal dam failure in Aberfan, Wales in 1966 a catastrophe that had killed 147 people, including 116 school children. M. S. TERN, T . of Law Dean Willard Lorensen) brings no criminal indictments against Pittston. There had been emergency relief, but little community redevelopment. 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. 1 filled up with fine waste, then Dam No. The water is tranquil in the pools where the trout like to hide. flood the people will already have their coffins The state later had to pay the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers more than $9 million for recovery work along Buffalo Creek. 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. The socio-psychology of all this was probed and covered in an award-winning 1976 book by Kai T. Erikson. 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. I wouldve took a gunshot or anything. I'm interested in (please check all that apply). For the individuals being stereotyped, it can lead to internalization. amzn_assoc_title = "Additional Reading"; At the time of Pittstons acquisition of Buffalo Mining, Dam No. "$1, 000, 001 Settlement in Flood Suit," Charleston Gazette, 11-15-1977. 242-246, Appalachian Journal, Vol. They are used to hard times. April 30, 1974Plaintiffs amended their complaint. They looked like huge metallic pretzels. Based on the testimony obtained from hearings, technical reports and our own field inspection, the Commission concludes that: Dam No. Ken Ward, Jr., Agencies Failed to Protect People, Inspector Recalls, Charleston Gazette, Tuesday, February 25, 1997. 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 . Never. First Lieut. These cracks were a clear indication of the saturation and subsequent destabilization of the structure, but no evacuation order was issued. Subsequent On February 26, 1972 the Buffalo creek community was destroyed by a terrible flood. You build them up with a bunch of political propaganda.., he said, also suggesting that the coal operators money installed the politicians in Washington, and then, you dont care nothing about us., Not long after the dams had burst, and the flood waters had raged through the Buffalo Creek communities, Pittstons New York public relations office, attempting to absolve the company from legal responsibility, issued a news release stating that the flood was an act of God. The dam, said the Pittston officials, was simply incapable of holding the water God poured into it.. But the disaster will never be forgotten. Hall. The next day, February 26th, at 1:30 a.m. the water was twelve inches from the dams crest and oozing through the dams surface. Its worth noting that, following Buffalo Creek, two commissions were launched. 3), Washington: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1972. 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. amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; It also held coal reserves of 1.5 billion tons, mostly high-grade metallurgical coal used in steel-making. Some residents in higher hilltop homes overlooking Buffalo Creek, watched as entire houses floated down the hollow, some later crashing into a small bridge downstream. "300 acres of area covered by water a foot deep". George Vecsey, Homeless Thousands Await Future in Flooded Valley, New York Times (front page), February 29, 1972. Kai Erikson's book, "Everything In Its Path: Destruc-tion of Community in The Buffalo Creek Flood". Recent history suggests that a number of these facilities and practices hold public safety risks and/or environmental threats. Erin L. McCoy, The U.S. Has Nearly 600 Coal Waste Sites. A Pittston Coal Group decal sticker listing some of the company's mining locations in the VA-WV area. 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. AprilOver 1,000 residents registered claims with Pittston. 141-144, Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Association for American Studies, Asian Journal of Social Science, Vol. 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. Roads werent where they used to be, nor were houses. 1942Buchanan County coal refuse pile explosion covered the railroad tracks Local high school students were brought in by the busload, helping them to fulfill the 40 hours of community service required to graduate. 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) a federal safety standard prohibiting refuse piles from impeding drainage or impounding .In 1971, Pittston was cited for over 5,000 safety violations at its mines nationally. But West Virginia newspapers in the area were covering the tragedy closely, as the grim business of accounting for the dead, injured, and homeless continued. Get this from a library! In March 1967, a partial collapse at one of the dams caused some flooding in the hollow, alarming residents already concerned about the structures. The dams were not designed or constructed in accordance with then-current engineering standards. For many, Eriksons book became a definitive take on Buffalo Creek, as well as Appalachian culture as a whole. 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. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. June 7, 1974Judge Hall declined to act on Pittstons motion to dismiss plaintiffs Bridges were smashed to bits. 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. With little warning to residents, more than 130 million gallons of dark floodwaters tore through more than a dozen communities in the hollow. And people die. 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. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; 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. The tragedy being spoken of is the Buffalo . amzn_assoc_asins = "0393332217,0938985108,B01MXPYJBV,0802124658"; Feb 28, 1972. Construction is carried out according to the approved plan. LOGAN COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - It is a day to remember for Logan County. It wasnt if Buffalo Creek would ever happen again, but when. 1945The Lorado Coal Company opened a coal mine at Buffalo Creek and began November 7, 1980: Ferrell coal mine disaster. (1976). 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. 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. Three coal waste dams in West Virginia failed, killing 125 people and injuring 1,100 more in communities downstream of the dams. The In eastern Kentucky in 2000, the bottom of a coal impoundment ruptured into an abandoned underground mine, flooding two streams and poisoning a water supply. shares to 1,217 shares. 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. Death in Buffalo Hollow, Newsweek, March 13, 1972. In that case, the bottom of the 72-acre Big Branch slurry impoundment owned by the Martin County Coal Corp. broke through an abandoned underground mine located below it. Through the 1940s coal mining and coal washing including dumping coal refuse and coal wash water occurred in the area of the Middle Fork, one of three headwater streams that formed Buffalo Creek. (AP Photo/John Raby). One thing that really impressed me, though, was there was no immediate display of emotion, Porterfield said, remembering the survivors. 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. [Gerald M Stern] -- This volume describes the Buffalo Creek Flood -- and also the investigation and legal actions that followed. Click for copy. 1924Crane Creek flood (Mercer County, WV), refuse pile blocking a waterway Pittstons Oil Division applied to Maines Department of Environmental Protection Governor Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement from the Pittston Coal Company related to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood. When the deluge receded, he saw bodies along the long walk to check on relatives, images that have been seared into the veterans mind. ), 400 Still Missing in West Virginia Flood, February 28, 1972. Coal waste dumping had gone on there for decades, up in the hills, at the headwaters of the Buffalo Creek. Earl Lambert, From The Mountainsides: Many Saw It Happen, Logan Banner (Logan, WV), February 28, 1972. The pool behind Dam No. 417-424, Appalachian Journal, Vol. June 12, 1964Buffalo Mining Company (BMC) incorporated. 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. amzn_assoc_linkid = "40258c095eb99c570bd3ec58d7f0a3fb"; Click for copy. The Buffalo Creek Disaster, February 26, 1972 One of worst floods in US occurred here 26 February 1972, when Buffalo Mining Co. impoundment dam for mine waste broke, releasing over 130 million gallons of black waste water: killed 125; property losses over $50 million; and thousands left homeless. 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. February 26, 2022, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most devastating mine disasters in U.S. history. Were owned by the coal company. Table of Contents. He relied on depositions and additional interviews he conducted to write Everything in Its Path: Destruction of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood. Sources: The Herald Dispatch, newspaper of Huntington, WV, Thomas Marsh, and the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. They flew me out and we landed right here on this road. March 11, 1967Pittstons Dola, W.Va., dam failed and a massive flood Click here to stay informed and subscribe to. find dam #3 satisfactory. A few weeks later, on February 22nd, a federal mine inspector and the company safety engineer observed the dams and found conditions satisfactory. Pierce. Residents were just awakening that Saturday morning; some entire families were still in bed. 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. President Richard Nixon, then in China, had contacted Moore by phone to promise Federal disaster aid. The little girl, Darla in September, she was a Kindergarten student and she got on my bus one morning and her mother had cleaned house, Moore said, and she brought me some plastic flowers that she had got out of the garbage and brought to me, and I thought that was so sweet. He believed most local people didnt tell Randolph and other politicians how they really feel. They relate the story of a group of survivors who formed their own support group without outside help. It just broke your heart to see firsthand the devastation that water could do, he would tell a Herald Dispatch reporter. The first coal camps at Buffalo Creek were built. 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. himself from the case because of his friendship with Pittstons president. Associated Press (Man, WV. problems with implementation. The Buffalo Creek Disaster of 1972. 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. He said the impoundment failure at Buffalo Creek was accompanied by multiple warnings. #3 in his inspection report. (AP Photo/John Raby). June 2, 1971BMCs vice president asked Pittstons legal counsel about 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. 1972About 5,000 people lived in the Buffalo Creek holler including 1,000 Men and women, children and animals were floating in that high wall of water.. million deductible in response to the Dola, W. Va., dam failure. Thanks for visiting and if you like what you find here, please make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website. Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement at the end of his second term. 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. its motion to dismiss. alternative for a more definite statement as to plaintiffs states of citizenship The loss of more than 100 people in the Buffalo Creek disaster half a century ago . The huge wall of coal wastewater was 30 feet high and 550 feet wide as it gouged its way down the hollow, first smashing through Saunders and then, successively through Pardee, Lorado, Londale, and a dozen other small villages in the narrow creek valley. By that time he had stopped screaming and drunk so much water and everything I dont what happened to him.. "A Town Stood Here," Life Magazine, 10-10-1972. But the company challenged each of the violations and paid only $275 of the $1.3 million in fines originally proposed. Moore shared stories of two young children Darla Dillon, 5, and David Adkins Jr., 4, both of Lorado who perished in the flood. I was so scared. Still highly regarded today, a 2011 paper in the Asian Journal of Social Science refers to Eriksons book as a classic piece on the sociological study of post-disaster societies., Some, however, have taken issue with Eriksons work and, on a larger scale, with outsiders views of Appalachia. August 8, 1972Congress passed the National Dam Inspection Act. I found the use of . Uploaded by api-369440949. 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. 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. Gazette-Mail/L. February 28Pittston employee distributes warning memorandum previously Stern met with plaintiffs and obtained settlement authority. Justice v. Pittston class action by now-Judge Phillip Gaujot on behalf of 348 children about future Aberfan disasters. April 16, 1973Plaintiffs moved to amend their complaint to add additional In addition to the two West Virginia reports, there were also several others, including the U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing record already mentioned; a U.S. Geological Survey report; a U.S. Department of the Interior Report; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report all of which, in one form or another, found fault with the design, integrity, and lack of oversight of the dams, and how regulators and the Pittston Coal Company failed to meet their responsibilities for public health and safety. found that the victims didn't experience the enthusiastic feelings because the disaster was so much greater, and . 3 failed at 8 a.m., releasing millions of gallons of water into Dam No. Wordfence is a security plugin installed on over 4 million WordPress sites. 2 gave way, quickly followed by Dam No. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. Choose wisely! The dams, built of coal slag wastes, were then owned by the Pittston Coal Company. An airplane crashes. 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. In 1854, he married Margaretha Weidner (1832-1910). The people of Appalachia seem to be forever poised at some vague mid-point between ability and disability, is one such Erikson statement. WV Governor, Arch Moore. And then you could hear the roar of it and you could see it. We do not see this as a disaster in a vacuum, he said, but a series of events of coal dominating the lives of West Virginians.. I seen trees, logs, cars, slate, slush, you name it and it was in that.. Mine Safety Health Administration lists 570 active coal impoundments across the country. The Buffalo Creek Disaster. Logan Flood Toll 66; 400 Missing, Hundreds Search Disaster Area; Cause of Break Gets Attention, Charleston Daily Mail, February 28, 1972. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Children walk along the tracks in what remains of their community along Buffalo Creek on Feb. 27, 1972, The people are prisoners of the coal industry.. May 1, 1971Pittston acquiredBMCand assumed sole management West Virginia: Disaster in the Hollow, Time, Monday, March 13, 1972. That deal would dog Moore for the rest of his career. 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