Buffalo Creek Disaster YE HAO GBL395 Summer 2014 Synopsis: . 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. Share Buffalo Creek Flood. If you are a WordPress user with administrative privileges on this site, please enter your email address in the box below and click "Send". /08. Logan Flood Toll 66; 400 Missing, Hundreds Search Disaster Area; Cause of Break Gets Attention, Charleston Daily Mail, February 28, 1972. 2 gave way, quickly followed by Dam No. February 28, 1972. The commission consisted of nine men with ties to the coal industryor a vested interest in proving that Pittston Coal and state regulating agencies were not responsible. During the meeting, the 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. In 1977, Gov. Steve Thompson Witnessed the Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster First Hand. 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 dams were not designed or constructed in accordance with then-current engineering standards. Governor Moore, however, acting to protect the Pittston Coal Company, tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress his own commissions report. William Rhee, Associate Professor of Law, West Virginia University, The Buffalo Creek Timeline, WVU.edu, updated on December 30, 2015. More than a dozen towns were inundated and 125 people lost their lives. Vintage. It was The dams, built of coal slag wastes, were then owned by the Pittston Coal Company. Pierson recalled having to walk to Lorado and his father forcing his way into a company store in order to obtain formula for his infant sister, who was born Jan. 6 of that year. amzn_assoc_linkid = "40258c095eb99c570bd3ec58d7f0a3fb"; Last updated on December 30, 2015. 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. May 1, 1971Pittston acquiredBMCand assumed sole management The Logan prosecutor said at the time that Pittstons failure to receive a state dam license was merely a misdemeanor and that a one-year statute of limitations for prosecutions had lapsed. And by 1968, the company was dumping more gob at a third location, another 600 feet upstream. At approximately 8 a.m. on Feb. 26, 1972, a man-made coal slurry impoundment dam, which was operated by the Pittston Coal Company, burst following a prolonged period of heavy rainfall. He believed most local people didnt tell Randolph and other politicians how they really feel. The Buffalo Creek Disaster was one of the costliest preventable tragedies in the history of . [I]f you dont do something, she wrote, prophetically, were all going to be washed away. Her letter did bring a state inspector to visit the dams. Erikson, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. June 2, 1971BMCs vice president asked Pittstons legal counsel about 2/3 (152/153) (2018), pp. The citizens commission report, formally titled. 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. There had been emergency relief, but little community redevelopment. Destroyed homes and businesses are piled up against each other in the Dingess Hollow area of Lorado, W.Va., after the Buffalo Creek Dam broke on Feb. 26, 1972. 344.754 S839. Headlines from 'The Springfield Republican' of Massachusetts, report on the 'W.Va. In 2005, the ecosystem took another hit when water blew out of an abandoned coal mine, turning the creek green. Dam No. I'm interested in (please check all that apply). solicitation of legal business. It later concluded that there was no impropriety. It also held coal reserves of 1.5 billion tons, mostly high-grade metallurgical coal used in steel-making. of Inquiry into the Buffalo Creek Floods documents. 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. settled a lawsuit over this breakdown. (1972). Plaintiffs filed their more definite statement of their damage claims. MSHA said 49 impoundments pose a significant hazard because of the potential damage from a failure. One lawsuit was filed by the state of West Virginia, while another class action lawsuit was filed by survivors of the flood. A wave of nearly 130 million gallons of water and other material (a total volume estimated to be between 300 and 400 acre-feet) roared down the Buffalo Creek valley at a velocity estimated to be 20 feet per second in its initial three miles. A few helicopters were used initially until local miners and others, and the National Guard, began clearing debris and building makeshift roads and bridges. March 2, 1973Judge Hall holds hearing on Pittstons motion to dismiss 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. BMCthen builds dam #2. Local high school students were brought in by the busload, helping them to fulfill the 40 hours of community service required to graduate. ), 400 Still Missing in West Virginia Flood, February 28, 1972. Pierson said the flood had a rather unique impact on him it caused him to conquer his fear of water. I enjoyed it when I was small., He said the adults decided that if they got the kids involved they wouldnt be as apt to go out and start worrying about getting on drugs or drinking and stuff like that.. The first restoration, however, came with the railroads, rebuilt to serve the mines, which were operating again within a week of the flood. The outcome of the lawsuits surrounding Buffalo Creek go far in demonstrating the power divide between the haves and the have-nots in Appalachia. should not be material in relation to [Pittstons] consolidated financial position.. Arnold and Porter gave Pittston a $32.5 million written settlement proposal. The Buffalo Creek Flood and Disaster: Official Report From the Governors Ad Hoc Commission of Inquiry, 1973 (as posted at: wvculture.org). Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. (The Herald-Dispatch via AP). Feb 27, 1972. discovery confidential. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. shares to 1,217 shares. Buffalo Creek Flood, 1972, Online Exhibit /Special Collections, Marshall University, 2002. Mining industry-related incidents are a longstanding reality for the residents of West Virginia, Young writes, echoing the sentiments Ralph Nader expressed decades earlier. HD Media news reporter Dylan Vidovich can be contacted via email at dvidovich@hdmediallc.com. 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. The current rose so high that it covered telephone poles. Ken Ward, Jr., Agencies Failed to Protect People, Inspector Recalls, Charleston Gazette, Tuesday, February 25, 1997. However, he did question the ability of the overflow pipes in Dam No. For the individuals being stereotyped, it can lead to internalization. They looked like huge metallic pretzels. Coal waste dumping had gone on there for decades, up in the hills, at the headwaters of the Buffalo Creek. Hundreds of families lost everything their homes, their belongings, their memorabilia. Since the impoundment regulations were implemented in 1975, there have been no incidents of dam failures at coal waste impoundments. We publish articles grounded in peer-reviewed research and provide free access to that research for all of our readers. Report of the Citizens Commission to Investigate the Buffalo Creek Disaster, Disaster on Buffalo Creek: A Citizens Report on Criminal Negligence in a West Virginia Mining Community, Charleston, West Virginia, 1972. 1, No. Pittston announced in 1999 that it was leaving the coal business. (BMCs) dam #1 fails causes a steam explosion and damaging the Saunders community December 2008. Join our new membership program on Patreon today. As a result many possible . February 26, 2022, was the 50th anniversary of the Buffalo Creek Flood in West Virginia that killed 125 people and left 4,000 homeless. A Town Stood Here, Life, October 10, 1972. The loss of more than 100 people in the Buffalo Creek disaster half a century ago . from [any] overflow from the lake.. Long after the Feb. 26, 1972, disaster, the poisoned creek had no life. The survivors were not allowed to address the meeting. 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. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. Table of Contents. Instead, the builders end-dumped and shoved loosely compacted layers of coarse refuse across the valley. Senator). make a donation to help support the research and writing at this website, Online Exhibit /Special Collections, Marshall University. Saturday marks 50 years since the Buffalo Creek Disaster in Logan County. Mimi Pickering (Film Director), Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man (essay), Library of Congress, 1978 (in 1984, filmmaker Mimi Pickering completed Buffalo Creek Revisited, an update on the flood and its consequences). Then I fell off in the water. February 25Because of heavy rains, dam #3 was rising 1-2 inches per hour. 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. A helicopter hovers over one location in the Buffalo Creek valley, surveying the damage in the aftermath of the coal dam failures and devastating flood of February 26, 1972. 79-100. Arnold & Porters medical and psychological experts started interviewing and But his pregnant wife couldnt get out; she was trapped in the house. He was heavily involved in writing federal regulations and beefed-up criteria for the construction of coal waste dams and their maintenance. In 1854, he married Margaretha Weidner (1832-1910). Governor Arch Moore accepted a $1 million settlement from the Pittston Coal Company related to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood. And this was just another little installment in the progression of a hard life, I guess., Congressman Ken Hechler put it a little more bluntly. George Vecsey, West Virginia Flood Toll At 60 With Hundreds Lost, New York Times, February 28, 1972. [1] For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Buffalo Creek flood. #3 in his inspection report. Committee in a lawsuit against Pittston. 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. After the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster, Gov. 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. of Law Dean Willard Lorensen) brings no criminal indictments against Pittston. Gazette-Mail/L. Pierce. October 6, 1982: Buffalo Creek flood settlement. Vicki Smith, Feds OK Coal Slurry Dam Expansion, GazetteMail.com, March 25, 2013. Or something else altogether? ofBMC. July 14, 1970West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR) Inspector .. May 1, 1974Discovery deadline. In addition, coal wastes have also been dumped into abandoned deep mines and used to reclaim strip mines. He argues that stereotypesparticularly the white trash stereotypes depicting Appalachians as lazy, ignorant, and hopelessallow for the continued exploitation of Appalachia by industry. 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. 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. 20 years prior to the Buffalo Creek flood, a similar incident had occurred. 1. So often, these people are defined by misguided Appalachian stereotypes. examining the plaintiffs. Modern Marvels: The Buffalo Creek Disaster (History Channel production), YouTube.com (9:27). EPA had initially estimated the spill would take four-to-six weeks to clean up, however, three years later they were still cleaning up. December 17, 1971WVDNR Inspector recommended an emergency spillway on But the disaster will never be forgotten. The association will hold its annual kids fishing event in April, giving away 125 rods and reels and other fishing gear. Jacob Turkale holds a rainbow trout he caught Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, along Buffalo Creek in his hometown of 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. Mine Safety Health Administration lists 570 active coal impoundments across the country. More than a dozen towns were inundated and 125 people lost their lives. 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