Residents were just awakening that Saturday morning; some entire families were still in bed. February 1971Dam #3 collapsed. The Buffalo Creek Flood and Disaster: Official Report from the Governor's Ad Hoc Commission of Inquiry. One of the photos used in Disaster on Buffalo Creek: A Citizens' Report on Criminal Negligence in a West Virginia Mining Community, 1972. K.T. 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. State regulators sued the mines owner. Help us keep publishing stories that provide scholarly context to the news. (plus appendices, vol. But those improved practices didnt last. Plaintiffs filed their more definite statement of their damage claims. (BMCs) dam #1 fails causes a steam explosion and damaging the Saunders community 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. May 1, 1974Discovery deadline. Still, the reported number of dead and missing varied with each days news reports, a reflection of the difficulty in finding and identifying bodies in the aftermath. dams. 1969Congress enacted the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. The state sued the company for $100,000,000 dollars but then Gov. Total property damage was estimated at $50 million (about $340 million in 2022 dollars). I teach it. The failure occurred a minute or so before 8:00 a.m. February 26, 1972, and was solely the cause of the Buffalo Creek flood. As a way to remember and memorialize the devastating flood, a small gathering of survivors congregated at the Buffalo Creek Memorial Library at South Man Friday afternoon. Approximately 550 homes were destroyed, and another 900-plus were damaged. A Pittston Coal Group decal sticker listing some of the company's mining locations in the VA-WV area. Boulders donated by another mine operator were strategically placed in the creek. found that the victims didn't experience the enthusiastic feelings because the disaster was so much greater, and . For the first time, individuals who were not present at the scene of a disaster were allowed to recover for mental injuries. flood the people will already have their coffins 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 Buffalo Creek Flood and Disaster: Official Report from the Governors Ad Hoc Commission of Inquiry, 1973 (PDF of actual report at Marshall University). 2 to handle excessive runoff. In the blink of an eye, people's lives completely changed; lives were lost, houses were gone and families were destroyed. He said he feels his experience with the flood is what led him to lead that lifestyle. Committee in a lawsuit against Pittston. Ive got uranium and all kinds of radioactive stuff in my bedroom. Based on the testimony obtained from hearings, technical reports and our own field inspection, the Commission concludes that: Dam No. 36, No. Ben A. Franklin, New York Times News Service, Dam Failures Common: Whos Liable for Flooding, Charleston Gazette, February 28, 1972. This resolution was passed in spirit only. amzn_assoc_title = "Related Books & DVD"; State of West Virginia sued Pittston in both state and federal court for the states Betty Dotson-Lewis / Brian Sewell, The Day Baby Brucie Died: An Oral History of the Buffalo Creek Flood, The Appalachian Voice, February 27, 2012. Williams wasnt alone in pointing to the ravages of strip mining. And then you could hear the roar of it and you could see it. The number stern settled on was 32.5 million dollars. 2/3 (152/153) (2018), pp. Gerald M.Stern writes the story of The Buffalo Creek Disaster, how a coal cleaning impoundment dam burst, killing 125 people injuring more than 1000 and causing over 4000 people to be homeless. Engineers Say Buffalo Dam Doomed at Start, Logan Banner (Logan, WV), May 30, 1972. An impoundment dam burst in a coal mining West Virginia town, precipitating a deadly flood that killed or injured more than a thousand people, and left many more residents homeless. Railroad rails were twisted, cars were everywhere, bridges were on the roads instead of over the creek.. First Lieut. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines (W. A. Wahler & Associates), Analysis of Coal Refuse Dam Failure. Published: Feb. 27, 2022 at 12:17 PM PST. 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. A final federal strip mine bill, however, would not be signed into law until 1977. September 2, 1972West Virginia Ad Hoc Commission of Inquiry into the The Earth Justice organization, one of the environmental groups following this issue, has complied a U.S. map of these sites as shown above. Home; President Richard Nixon, then in China, had contacted Moore by phone to promise Federal disaster aid. Having faced several corruption allegations when serving as governor, Moore left office with this additional blemish on his record. 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. Click here to stay informed and subscribe to. George Vecsey, Memories of a Disaster, GeorgeVecsey.com, February 22, 2012. And people die. 417-424, Appalachian Journal, Vol. 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. 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.. NovemberSpecial grand jury led by two special prosecuting attorneys (includingWVUCollege 3 failed at 8 a.m., releasing millions of gallons of water into Dam No. The other, David Adkins Jr., he was the same age five he hadnt started school either, but every evening, he was out and back then, they put braces in a fence and hed sit right in that brace and hed watch that bus every evening like he was saying, Next year, Im going to ride that bus. He didnt make it. After last year, Pierson, who now lives in Scott Depot, made the drive home to Logan County once again to reminisce with other survivors. Engineering, Not Rainfall, Given Blame, Logan Banner, March 9, 1972. The .gov means its official. The Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster occurred on the cold rainy Saturday morning of February 26, 1972, when a coal slurry dam failed. As the skies cleared on Sunday, February 27, West Virginias Governor, Arch Moore toured the area by helicopter, describing the awesome destruction he viewed from above. The During the flood, 125 people lost their lives, 1,100 were injured and 4,000 were left homeless. and submitted other discovery requests to Pittston. buffalo creek disaster 1 - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Afterward, the survivors informally sit and talk about their memories from the flood and how it affected their lives. of Law Dean Willard Lorensen) brings no criminal indictments against Pittston. 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. BMCfeared 2 (Jan., 1978), pp. Is the unique Appalachian dialect the preserved language of Elizabethan England? By June 1970, Pittston had acquired the Buffalo Mining Company. Loss of Communality at Buffalo Creek, American Journal of Psychiatry, March 1976, pp. 2 was built on top of that waste. Privacy Policy Contact Us with little windows and doors and a small latch on Click for copy. Downstream, the coal wastewater theoretically filtered through the dams would then emerge in a cleaner state in Buffalo Creek and beyond. injury claims of 33 plaintiffs, published 63 F.R.D. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. In March 1967, a partial collapse at one of the dams caused some flooding in the hollow, alarming residents already concerned about the structures. MayA group of Buffalo Creek disaster survivors traveled to Pittstons The goal of MSHAs impoundment program continues to help ensure that: Impoundments constructed by the coal industry are designed to accepted dam safety standards. 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. Nothing is the same around this place. He believed most local people didnt tell Randolph and other politicians how they really feel. 201 12th StS Erikson, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. WVPB News. Kapp, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons. 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. In the wake of this disaster, Congress asked the National Research Council to examine ways to reduce the potential for similar accidents in the future, and their report appeared in October 2001, recommending the federal government establish clear authority to review the stability of such impoundments, improve regulation, establish minimum distance rules, and undertake more complete mapping of existing and abandoned underground mines. A separate settlement for survivors amounted to about $13,000 per plaintiff. 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. On Saturday, the community showed they are still standing with a room full of survivors coming . the burning refuse pile before wiping out the Buffalo Creek valley. This mining activity, though in the past, had stripped away the water-absorbing forest undergrowth, thus increasing surface run-off during heavy precipitation. BMCs vice More than 100 people died in southern West Virginia when a dam failed. recommended an emergency spillway on Dam #3 in his inspection report. As a result many possible . Chronology of a Disaster, BuffaloCreek Flood.org. 2's slurry pool. Ben A. Franklin, New York Times News Service, Slag Piles Imperil 5th of State Nader, Charleston Gazette, March 5, 1972. psychic injury while they were physically away from Buffalo Creek during the flood. U.S. 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. Arch Moore agreed to a $1 million settlement before leaving office in . The Buffalo Creek . Additionally, on one side of the valley below Dam #1, there was a huge smoldering coal refuse pile. 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. Hall. bringing the total to 625, and $64 million in damages. gave way, killing eight people. How much was the settlement? Nearly 50 years later, there are still hundreds of coal waste dams to worry about, as well as other assorted coal waste dangers throughout the U.S. 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. The failure of a giant 84-acre coal ash impoundment (upper right) at TVAs Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee, released 5.4 million cubic yards of ash slurry into the Emory & Clinch rivers and the downstream community of Harriman, TN. a federal safety standard prohibiting refuse piles from impeding drainage or impounding 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. of Inquiry into the Buffalo Creek Floods documents. When the water set it down again, it just flattened out on the ground. The tragedy resulted in a $13.5 million class action settlement, and led to the 1973 Dam . 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. At the outset of the hearing, Fuquay was the first witness, and the subcommittee chairman, Senator Harrison Williams (D-NJ), submitted for inclusion in the hearing record, Fuquays 225-page report, titled An Engineering Survey of Representative Coal Mine Refuse Piles as Related to the Buffalo Creek, West Virginia, Disaster. That two-part report, focusing on the failed Buffalo Creek dams and a sampling of other dangerous coal refuse dams in the region, made headlines in a few places on May 30th, 1972, the day the Senate hearings began. 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. Nader and McAteer, in a letter to key members of Congress urging investigations, estimated that hundreds of thousands of West Virginians living in narrow Appalachian valleys, could be threatened by sudden catastrophic flooding from unstable coal waste dams. Why Theyve Got West Virginians Worried, YesMagazine.org, April 23, 2015. George Vecsey, Two Rival Inquiries Are Begun into Flood in West Virginia, New York Times, March 12, 1972, p. 70. The flood, known as the Buffalo Creek disaster, is considered one of the worst disasters in both American and Mountain State history. It took a mere 15 minutes to totally fail, Spadaro said. You know, its not like your house burned down, Hall said. miners. Each of the plaintiffs ended up with about $13,000. June 12, 1964Buffalo Mining Company (BMC) incorporated. Emery Jeffreys (former reporter for The Logan Banner; account of his early flood-site reporting), Mud, Muck and Misery, LoganWV.us, February 27, 2018. The couple had nine children. amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; There had been emergency relief, but little community redevelopment. Steve Thompson Witnessed the Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster First Hand. Mine Safety and Health Administration forbidden in December 1970. 1/2 (Spring/Fall 2010), pp. February 1972. Buffalo Creek, whose habitat was destroyed along a 17-mile (27-kilometer) stretch, is teeming with trout again, after a steady, coordinated effort by Harvey and others to get back what they once had and share it with future generations. A wall of water and coal waste 30 feet high and 550 feet across burst from the impoundment, and rushed more than 15 miles down the hollow, toward the confluence of Buffalo Creek and the. 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. After the Dam Broke, Cries for Control, Business Week, March 11, 1972. Tom Price, Who Killed Buffalo Creek?, Rolling Stone, January 3, 1974. A Town Stood Here, Life, October 10, 1972. Buffalo Creek Disaster 1. 2023 West Virginia University. unstable and that the bank [was] subject to large wash-out on [the] north side 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. Judge Hall ruled that the plaintiffs survivor-syndrome claims might exceed $10,000 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. 1:30 a.m., dam #3s water was only one foot below the dams crest. The state had initially sued for $100 million, half of which was slated to cover cleanup and restoration expenses. Subsequent Because of the downpour, nearly 50 acre-feet of fresh water filled the pool of Dam No. Click for copy. Press Release, New Federal Standards Needed for Storing Coal Waste, National Research Council (Washington, DC), October 21, 2001. A number of leaks and smaller spills have also occurred. Senators and experts gather around scale model of Buffalo Creek area in Senate hearing room showing valley below and three coal waste impoundments (#s 8, 5, & 4) that burst causing catastrophic flood on February 26, 1972. markets. Click for copy. dam will hold. Buffalo Creek Coal Mine, Logan County, WV Written at SFSU in 2017 About 45 years ago, at the U.S.' coal mining peak, the country had one of its worst mining-related disasters at Buffalo Creek, Logan County, West Virginia [1]. 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. W. Va. 1974). 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. 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. 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. Jamie Goodman/Brian Sewell, Remembering Buffalo Creek, The Appalachian Voice, February 21, 2012. They relate the story of a group of survivors who formed their own support group without outside help. These cracks were a clear indication of the saturation and subsequent destabilization of the structure, but no evacuation order was issued. But $27 million in flood emergency funds was used in 1975 to build a highway that really went nowhere, except to the coal tipples at the head of Buffalo Creek. It would just go from one hillside to the other. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Hall also asked Pittston Buffalo Area Declared Health, Safety Hazard, Logan Banner, March 1, 1972. 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. December 17, 1971WVDNR Inspector recommended an emergency spillway on Coal waste dumping had gone on there for decades, up in the hills, at the headwaters of the Buffalo Creek. JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTOR. 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. Although influential, the book overlooks the impressive resiliency and advocacy demonstrated by many survivors within the community. 1929). They flew me out and we landed right here on this road. 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.. As of 1987, Pittston was still among the ten largest coal companies in the U.S. In 1977, Gov. hearings, 91 witnesses, and 2,000 pages of transcript that Pittston has shown Three days later, on February 25, with heavy rain, the water behind dam No. 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. Out of the total settlement, Arnold and Porter took a legal fee of $3 million. For the individuals being stereotyped, it can lead to internalization. Choose wisely! SOUTH MAN Sunday marked 51 years since the Buffalo Creek Disaster, the worst flood in West Virginias history. A roadside historical marker describing the Buffalo Creek coal impoundment disaster is shown Feb. 22, 2022, in Man, W.Va. Fifty years ago in West Virginia, the collapse of an coal-waste impoundment unleashed a torrent of black water into a narrow valley. 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 . Then in December 2008 a second major impoundment breach occurred this time, a failure of a giant 84-acre coal ash impoundment at the Tennessee Valley Authoritys (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant in eastern Tennessee (photo above). 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. The socio-psychology of all this was probed and covered in an award-winning 1976 book by Kai T. Erikson. "one acre of area covered by water to a depth of 300 feet", OR That year, the Buffalo Creek Watershed Association was formed. "A Town Stood Here," Life Magazine, 10-10-1972. Still, the worries for citizens living near either kind of impoundment are equally valid, whether of the mine-site or powerplant variety. #3 in his inspection report. Hall agreed and the documents amzn_assoc_region = "US"; Porterfield described a makeshift morgue set up at the local junior high school, likening it to the famous scene from Gone with the Wind in which Scarlett OHara stands astonished looking upon a sea of battlefield casualties. The dams were intended to leak and serve as filters. [W]e decided we would band together and hope it would relieve our tensions and fears, stated one member of the group. The report found that company and state officials were ill informed of the problems of refuse dams and had not taken timely measures. Davitt McAteer's book on the 1907 Monongah mine disaster. The sociologist Kai Erikson was brought in for the latter suit as an expert witness on behalf of the survivors. Depta writes: Theyre bringing in trailers so the next time theres a 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. No evidence of an act of God was found by the Commission. Never. The result of the dam bursting was 132 million gallons of black wastewater being unleashed onto the 16 communities that encompass Buffalo Creek. The people of Appalachia seem to be forever poised at some vague mid-point between ability and disability, is one such Erikson statement. Depta recalls the trailers brought in by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to set up temporary living for the newly homeless. Its still very personal to me.. Part of that is to tell the survivors' story, to make it impossible . Mine Safety Health Administration lists 570 active coal impoundments across the country. West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. I was so scared. Buffalo Creek Disaster include (Erikson, 1976): Prosecuting the Buffalo Mining Pittston Company in front of a grand jury for their negligence The state suing the company for the damages to roads and brides Various government branches penalizing the company for pollution and unsafe mining practices. Sunshine and clouds mixed. The pool was within three feet of the crest of the dam, and ominous cracks appeared. They are used to hard times. They were filled to capacity, holding tons of coal wastewater. Brittany Patterson, The Cautionary Tale of the Largest Coal Ash Waste Site in the U.S., AlleghenyFront.org, June 22, 2018. The spill covered the surrounding land with up to six feet of sludge. Arnold and Porter noticed Pittstons president and vice-presidents depositions 3 was under construction and about 50 percent completed. It should be widely read, states a 1978 review in the Journal of American Studies: In all its aspectsthe survivors description of the flood and its consequences, the contribution which it makes to an understanding of Appalachian life and to the study of disasters, and its theoretical suggestivenessit is outstanding. but then Gov. Its nine members, however, were either sympathetic to the coal industry, or government officials whose departments might have been complicit in the dams failures. October 23, 1890: "Wreck on the C&O" November 4, 1985: Floods devastate West Virginia. The Buffalo Creek Disaster: An Effective Supplement to a Conventional Civil Procedure Course Lawrence M. Grosberg Gerald Stern's The Buffalo Creek Disaster 1 and the lawsuit which is the subject of his book provide an excellent vehicle to complement a conven-tionally taught civil procedure course. 1924Crane Creek flood (Mercer County, WV), refuse pile blocking a waterway and denies the motion for the time being while plaintiffs obtain full discovery. Death, Destruction, Terror of 1972 Buffalo Creek Disaster Still Vivid, The Herald-Dispatch, January 15, 2009. The community continues to honor and remember those lost during the Buffalo Creek mining disaster. A clear indication of the plaintiffs ended up with about $ 13,000 per plaintiff and restoration expenses living for newly! Settlement, and led to the 1973 Dam dams were intended to leak and as! Killed Buffalo Creek Disaster, GeorgeVecsey.com, February 22, 2018 as filters Safety! Corruption allegations when serving as Governor, Moore left office with this additional blemish his! 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