The Citizens report also noted that strip mining above the dam had likely contributed to its over-filling. West Virginia Congressman Ken Heckler (D) had offered a bill in 1971 to ban all surface coal mining. Pierson said he was flown out by helicopter. 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. Jack Doyle, "Buffalo Creek Disaster: 1972,"PopHistoryDig, January 31, 2019. wvculture/history/buffcreek . For as it turns out, there are coal waste impoundments, and coal waste disposal methods, of many kinds. Arch Moore accepted a settlement offer of $1 million from the Pittston Coal Company. Mimi Pickering, my wife, made two documentary films about the disaster. amzn_assoc_asins = "0393332217,0938985108,B01MXPYJBV,0802124658"; Feb 28, 1972. And people die. And then you could hear the roar of it and you could see it. Newman, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. Harry Caudill's "Theirs Be The Power". Pittston failed to obtain an independent engineering opinion on the Buffalo You have permission to edit this article. February 25Because of heavy rains, dam #3 was rising 1-2 inches per hour. The outcome of the lawsuits surrounding Buffalo Creek go far in demonstrating the power divide between the haves and the have-nots in Appalachia. 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. MAN, W.Va. (AP) The day before the disaster hit, Perry Harvey went fishing on Buffalo Creek for one reason. 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. Film Clip, The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act Of Man, YouTube.com (8:22), February 20, 2012. In the blink of an eye, people's lives completely changed; lives were lost, houses were gone and families were destroyed. psychic injury while they were physically away from Buffalo Creek during the flood. The flood, known as the Buffalo Creek disaster, is considered one of the worst disasters in both American and Mountain State history. In the year 2000, increased attention was focused on the regulation of coal waste impoundments following a failure near Inez, Kentucky. Looking back at the Buffalo Creek Disaster. WV Governor, Arch Moore. /08. Pittston Quits the Coal Business, Buffalo CreekFlood.org. Invalid password or account does not exist. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; (AP Photo/John Raby). Emery Jeffreys (former reporter for The Logan Banner; account of his early flood-site reporting), Mud, Muck and Misery, LoganWV.us, February 27, 2018. J.L. A few weeks later, on February 22nd, a federal mine inspector and the company safety engineer observed the dams and found conditions satisfactory. After its pH level and temperature were checked, the creek was returned to the Division of Natural Resources trout stocking program in 2006 after a 34-year hiatus. He argues that stereotypesparticularly the white trash stereotypes depicting Appalachians as lazy, ignorant, and hopelessallow for the continued exploitation of Appalachia by industry. 1967The U.S. Department of Interior releases its Report on Condition million deductible in response to the Dola, W. Va., dam failure. process loss claims without admitting any responsibility. April 1, 1974 Pittston moved to dismiss absent plaintiffs, plaintiffs claiming psychic injury while they were physically away from Buffalo Creek during the flood. demand for injunctive relief and to strike certain allegations in the complaint Its worth noting that, following Buffalo Creek, two commissions were launched. Davis managed to rescue two of his sons, and his neighbors helped pull his 17-year-old daughter from the waters two miles down the hollow. Ralph Nader letter to Congressional committees raises dangers of coal dams. More than a dozen towns were inundated and 125 people lost their lives. The Buffalo Creek Disaster: The Story of the Survivors . Aerial photos at an Army Corps of Engineers office showed that earlier strip mining of coal seams had occurred on both sides of the slate dump, along with horizontal auger mining boring into the hillsides there. May 1, 1971Pittston acquiredBMCand assumed sole management Get this from a library! I'm interested in (please check all that apply). The dams were intended to leak and serve as filters. He relied on depositions and additional interviews he conducted to write Everything in Its Path: Destruction of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood. By June 1970, Pittston had acquired the Buffalo Mining Company. Click for copy. The first coal mining in the Buffalo Creek watershed dated to the 1910s when a few coal camps small mining towns sprang up following the first rail lines into the area to exploit the coal there. 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. Disaster at Buffalo Creek. 302-305. Half of its downstream side slumped but During World War II, almost a half million POWs were interned in the United States, where they forged sympathetic relationships with Black American soldiers. annual stockholders meeting in Richmond, Va., to petition for fair restitution. 2 (Spring 1973), pp. The dams themselves were certainly not state-of-the-art construction. U.S. Jack Doyle, Date Posted: 31 January 2019 Peter Galuszka's "Thunder on the Mountain". 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. Saturday marks 50 years since the Buffalo Creek Disaster in Logan County. Jack Spadaro, a mine safety investigator and environmental specialist, has made it his life's work to prevent such disasters from happening again. The Buffalo Creek Disaster of 1972. "one acre of area covered by water to a depth of 300 feet", OR (the diversity amount-in-controversy amount at the time). Twenty-seven years of follow-up research by teams of both . By DYLAN VIDOVICH The tautly-worded 31-page report offered detailed findings and evidence of corporate negligence and government failures in the disaster, and proposed 21 recommendations. Stern describes victims losing family members before their eyes, and the devastation caused by the flood. amzn_assoc_region = "US"; of Law Dean Willard Lorensen) brings no criminal indictments against Pittston. The Charleston Gazette of February 1972 reporting on the early flood death total, with front-page photo of damaged homes thrown about on the valley floor. Young ranks the spill as but one more state crime in a long list of state crimes, a list on which Buffalo Creek is also included. For outsiders, these stereotypes dehumanize the exploited individuals. In fact, there is a very sizeable coal waste legacy that will continue to pose dangers for many rural American communities and the nations rivers and streams for decades to come, even as the coal industry as a whole winds down its role in the U.S. and global economies. When the deluge receded, he saw bodies along the long walk to check on relatives, images that have been seared into the veterans mind. 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 . After then-president of the United Mine Workers Union, Arnold Miller and others were rebuffed by Gov. Richard Carelli, Mining Official Blames Explosions on Flood Water Hitting Hot Slag Pile, Charleston Gazette, March 9, 1972. the front to drag them to paradise california. Were owned by the coal company. Everything in Its Path:Destruction of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood (1976), a non-fiction book by American author Kai T. Erikson, won the 1978 National Book Award for documenting the aftermath of the Buffalo Creek flood disaster in Logan County, West Virginia which killed 125 people and left 4,000 people homeless out of a 5,000-person local population. 3 failed at 8 a.m., releasing millions of gallons of water into Dam No. In March 1967, a partial collapse at one of the dams caused some flooding in the hollow, alarming residents already concerned about the structures. 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. A number of leaks and smaller spills have also occurred. Approximately 550 homes were destroyed, and another 900-plus . 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. 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. 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.. The socio-psychology of all this was probed and covered in an award-winning 1976 book by Kai T. Erikson. Theres also the risk of environmental damage from coal ash, the toxic wastewater left over from burning coal at power plants. In addition, coal wastes have also been dumped into abandoned deep mines and used to reclaim strip mines. 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. 12, No. Many cases can take months if not years to reach trial and settlement. The survivors of the Buffalo Creek disaster suffered both individual and collective trauma, the latter being reflected in their loss of communality. 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. 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. However, he did question the ability of the overflow pipes in Dam No. We publish articles grounded in peer-reviewed research and provide free access to that research for all of our readers. One of the country's worst mining-related disasters occurred February 26, 1972, on Buffalo Creek in Logan County. - $13 million - Initially asked for $32 million - 2016: would be $65,208,559 (without legal and contingency fees) The outcome for Arnold & Porter - $3 million in legal fees (1974) - 43,000 man-hours . Arnold & Porter amended their complaint to add almost 200 more plaintiffs, Table of Contents. No silver spoon, no silver cup., While visiting Buffalo Creek, Breiding stood at the very spot where the dams had once been. hearings, 91 witnesses, and 2,000 pages of transcript that Pittston has shown A Pittston Coal Group decal sticker listing some of the company's mining locations in the VA-WV area. its motion to dismiss. Recent history suggests that a number of these facilities and practices hold public safety risks and/or environmental threats. However, adequate funding was never appropriated by teh West Virginia legislature to enforce the law. 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. W. Va. 1974). Create a password that only you will remember. the increased regulation cost might bankrupt it and became open to buyout. Loss of Communality at Buffalo Creek, American Journal of Psychiatry, March 1976, pp. February 1971Dam #3 collapsed. MayA group of Buffalo Creek disaster survivors traveled to Pittstons When forced to give up these long-standing ties with familiar places and people, the . Buffalo Creek Flood released its report.The Commission concluded after eight public Rebecca Bailey's 2008 book, "Matewan: Before The Massacre". G. ERALD . Subsequent 1912The C&O Railroad build the first spur line by Buffalo Creek. Approximately 550 homes were destroyed, and another 900-plus were damaged. Stern meets with Pittstons counsel concerning settlement. Youve still got but it was gone, just like being somewhere and a volcano went off and wiped out your entire village, and even after it was all over with, they went through there and tore out our little road and destroyed all of our little communities, and the people that wanted to couldnt even move back to where they used to live at., It hurts, Hall said. The state later had to pay the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers more than $9 million for recovery work along Buffalo Creek. February 28Pittston employee distributes warning memorandum previously Gazette-Mail/L. Since the impoundment regulations were implemented in 1975, there have been no incidents of dam failures at coal waste impoundments. Arch Moore's emergency director asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform recovery work at state expense. Map Feature: Coal Ash Contaminated Sites & Hazard Dams (U.S.), EarthJustice.org. 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. Associated Press (Man, WV. Penny Loeb's 2007 book, "Moving Mountains". dams. Ben A. Franklin, New York Times News Service, Slag Piles Imperil 5th of State Nader, Charleston Gazette, March 5, 1972. Support JSTOR Daily! When the impoundments up in the hills gave way that February morning, a tsunami-like wall of thick, black coal wastewater went crashing down the hollow, wiping out homes and lives. right below the dam. According to the U.S. EPA, there are over 1,000 operating coal ash waste ponds and landfills, plus many hundreds of retired coal ash disposal sites. Refuse Dumps at Coal Mines, discouraging the use of coal refuse dumps as dams. An airplane crashes. amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; March 28Pittston press release stating that it had opened offices to November 20, 1968: Farmington coal mine disaster I was so scared. June 12, 1964Buffalo Mining Company (BMC) incorporated. 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. 8:03 a.m., dam #3 failed and carried away dams #1 and #2. Vicki Smith, Feds OK Coal Slurry Dam Expansion, GazetteMail.com, March 25, 2013. Pittstons 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. 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 . Last month the Environmental Protection Agency ordered utilities to stop dumping waste into unlined storage ponds and speed up plans to close leaking or otherwise dangerous coal ash sites. Buffalo Creek, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, 2012. 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. Arnold and Porter gave Pittston a $32.5 million written settlement proposal. Field Foundation proposed a resolution that Pittston should spend more money to Each failure added millions of gallons to the monstrous wave of water bearing down on the residents of the countryside and towns below. Buffalo Creek Flood, 1972, Online Exhibit /Special Collections, Marshall University, 2002. of Inquiry into the Buffalo Creek Floods documents. Pittston settled all property damage claims. Were going to live here as long as he works here, she said, adding that without the dam, we could be over here safely.. Fact stipulations, exhibit lists, and pretrial The first is Buffalo Creek Flood: Act of Man. Rescue operations and accurate reporting of the dead and missing were made difficult by the fact that access to the area by road had been wiped out, with bridges destroyed and rail lines blocked or flooded. Local high school students were brought in by the busload, helping them to fulfill the 40 hours of community service required to graduate. The United States declined to sue Pittston for cleanup costs. 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). (AP Photo/John Raby), My dad and brothers all were fishermen and miners, Harvey said. 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. The water was there, and then it was gone., As the wave moved down the mountain valley it wiped out much of what stood in its path. 1970Pittstons London insurance underwriters inquired about all of its Most of Buffalo Creek was previously owned by the Popp family, who ran a dairy farm before converting to grain crops such as soybeans, wheat and corn. At a protest meeting held in the Buffalo Grade School in Accoville a month after the flood, an older woman stood up and shouted out: Ive lived up at the top of the hollow for a long time. The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act Of Man, Transcript (undated). Before that, I was terrified.. 1955(March) Pittston coal refuse dam broke at Lick Fork, Virginia. Buffalo Creek Mine Disaster 50th Anniversary 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. But this dam dam No. 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. The Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster occurred on the cold rainy Saturday morning of February 26, 1972, when a coal slurry dam failed. Generated by Wordfence at Wed, 1 Mar 2023 10:03:54 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. list is late. 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. 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. When the water set it down again, it just flattened out on the ground. 30, No. Me driving a bus, I knew about 80% of these people, and every name that went by, I can visualize them at that time, Moore said. Our lives, our communities the coal company created it, the coal company destroyed it.. Human relationships in this community had been derived from traditional bonds of kinship and neighborliness. Those parts of the book are the choices regarding: who to name as defendant; what court to file in; and what type of suit to file. The moving wall of wastewater did its damage in seconds, in repeated fashion, as it moved down the hollow. 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. president stops any efforts to warn residents and reassures the police that the 2 was built on top of that waste. Stern met with plaintiffs and obtained settlement authority. In 1971, Pittston was cited for over 5,000 safety violations at its mines nationally. The Buffalo Creek Flood was a disaster that occurred in 1972 in West Virginia. When Stern was talking to a former Pittston engineer, he learned something shocking. 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. #3 in his inspection report. June 26, 1974The plaintiffs and Pittston settle for $13.5 million. Governor Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement from the Pittston Coal Company related to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood. Get your fix of JSTOR Dailys best stories in your inbox each Thursday. unstable and that the bank [was] subject to large wash-out on [the] north side You may opt-out anytime by clicking "unsubscribe" from the newsletter or from your account. 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