The United States declined to sue Pittston for cleanup costs. May 1, 1971Pittston acquiredBMCand assumed sole management Click for copy. April 16, 1971WVDNR Inspector recommended an emergency spillway on Dam Actual death toll would be 125, nearly twice early reports. In 2005, the ecosystem took another hit when water blew out of an abandoned coal mine, turning the creek green. Chance of rain 100%. 3 failed. problems with implementation. By September 1972, the two competing West Virginia commissions one from the Governor, and the other a Citizens Commission issued their reports. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. 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. It was the flood at lick fork. Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com. /08. Buffalo Creek Disaster is not just about heroes but a dramatic tale that involves the loss of lives and property and the legal war containing a litigation drama that resulted in the payment of the settlement. 2 was built on top of that waste. 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. A few weeks later, on February 22nd, a federal mine inspector and the company safety engineer observed the dams and found conditions satisfactory. Mining industry-related incidents are a longstanding reality for the residents of West Virginia, Young writes, echoing the sentiments Ralph Nader expressed decades earlier. An exploration of one prison newspapers commitment to celebrating Black History with a unique focus on its home state. Pittston was also the fifth largest corporate landowner in the Appalachian region at the time, holding nearly 375,000 acres. amzn_assoc_region = "US"; The owner of this site is using Wordfence to manage access to their site. November 7, 1980: Ferrell coal mine disaster. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Thunderstorms this evening will give way to steady rain overnight. William E. Davies, James F. Bailey, and Donovan B. Kelly, West Virginias Buffalo Creek Flood: A Study of the Hydrology and Engineering Geology, U.S. Geological Survey, Geological Survey Circular 667, Washington, DC: 1972. The tragedy resulted in a $13.5 million class action settlement, and led to the 1973 Dam Control Act. Still, the worries for citizens living near either kind of impoundment are equally valid, whether of the mine-site or powerplant variety. They flew me out and we landed right here on this road. On February 26, 1972 the Buffalo creek community was destroyed by a terrible flood. No dollar amount could ever erase for the survivors what happened at Buffalo Creek. Today is the 40th anniversary of the dam bursting which was owned by Pittston Coal Company. Depta writes: Theyre bringing in trailers so the next time theres a The headlines the next day played the catastrophe as a flood disaster, as there had been heavy rain. Boulders donated by another mine operator were strategically placed in the creek. 2023 West Virginia University. The dams, built of coal slag wastes, were then owned by the Pittston Coal Company. You may opt-out anytime by clicking "unsubscribe" from the newsletter or from your account. MSHA recognizes those who were impacted in the 1972 flood that killed 125 and injured over 1100 people. What happened after the Buffalo Creek disaster? That summer, Brunty cried in fear with every storm and strong wind gust that shook her temporary trailer. amzn_assoc_asins = "0821415565,1467135496,0345543254,0618872248"; case is assigned to Judge K.K. A few years later, construction began on water and sewage systems, and some permanent housing was built. 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. February 1971Dam #3 collapsed. I wouldve took a gunshot or anything. psychic injury while they were physically away from Buffalo Creek during the flood. National Guard helicopters picked up survivors and delivered supplies. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal government site. All we had was the clothes on our backs and I prep, I put back not a lot of food, but as much as Janet (his wife) will let me, and I prepare for nuclear war. Click to visit that site. The company was operating eight mines in the vicinity and ran all the coal through the preparation plant above the dams. Ive got uranium and all kinds of radioactive stuff in my bedroom. Dam No. 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. 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. 1. Buffalo Creek Disaster Gerald M. Stern 3.68 2,196 ratings176 reviews One Saturday morning in February 1972, an impoundment dam owned by the Pittston Coal Company burst, sending a 130 million gallon, 25 foot tidal wave of water, sludge, and debris crashing into southern West Virginia's Buffalo Creek hollow. 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. 2 to handle excessive runoff. The Springfield Republican newspaper of of Springfield, Massachusetts ran a wire story from United Press International (UPI) on the front page with the headline: 80 to 90 Feared Dead in W. Va. Dam Break; Mining Town Wiped Out. That story shared the front page with other national and regional news that day, picturing U.S. Plaintiffs filed their more definite statement of their damage claims. and made decisions on future trial structure. May 1972, Wash., DC. Pittston A motion to make the resolution binding on Pittston management was defeated by a federal safety standard prohibiting refuse piles from impeding drainage or impounding Engineers Say Buffalo Dam Doomed at Start, Logan Banner (Logan, WV), May 30, 1972. 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. Human relationships in this community had been derived from traditional bonds of kinship and neighborliness. But the disaster will never be forgotten. In addition, coal wastes have also been dumped into abandoned deep mines and used to reclaim strip mines. In a 2012 interview, Porterfield said: [I]t looked like a battlefield. 2. No silver spoon, no silver cup., While visiting Buffalo Creek, Breiding stood at the very spot where the dams had once been. Pittston objected to Arnold & Porters more definite statement, asking the I told you this was going to happen, he said, I told you. He had voted for Randolph, but was frustrated with the political process and how the locals were regarded by most politicians. Richard Carelli, Mining Official Blames Explosions on Flood Water Hitting Hot Slag Pile, Charleston Gazette, March 9, 1972. But the dam pools, and the dumping of the solid slag wastes on the dam structures, were both essentially cost-saving, cheapest-way-to-do-it coal industry practices. That deal would dog Moore for the rest of his career. Click for copy. Refuse Dumps at Coal Mines, discouraging the use of coal refuse dumps as dams. Im a bit of a prepper, Hall said, and that flood I think done it, because I dont never want to be caught again with nothing. studied the 1972 Buffalo Creek flood in WV. forbidden in December 1970. 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. 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. hearings, 91 witnesses, and 2,000 pages of transcript that Pittston has shown The association used settlement money to start fixing the creek. More than a dozen homes and hundreds of acres in the down-stream community of Harriman, TN were hit with a gigantic toxic mess. In 1854, he married Margaretha Weidner (1832-1910). The 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. Loss of Communality at Buffalo Creek, American Journal of Psychiatry, March 1976, pp. As of December 2014, some 331 of these facilities were rated as either holding a high or significant safety hazard meaning likely loss of life in the former case, and significant economic/environmental damage in the latter case. Judge Christie, the federal district judge originally assigned to the case, removes Gerald M. Stern, The Buffalo Creek Disaster: The Story of the Survivors Unprecedented Lawsuit, New York: Random House, 1976. 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. "Coal: A Human History", 2016 edition. Pierson said the flood had a rather unique impact on him it caused him to conquer his fear of water. Citing coal industry dereliction throughout central Appalachia, they said it was imperative for Congress to investigate the industrys practice of erecting crudely-made coal refuse dams and propose legislation to prevent future disasters. First Lieut. Thomas N. Bethell and Davitt McAteer, The Pittston Mentality: Manslaughter on Buffalo Creek, Washington Monthly, May 1972. 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. Arnold & Porters medical and psychological experts started interviewing and After then-president of the United Mine Workers Union, Arnold Miller and others were rebuffed by Gov. dams. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; 2 (Spring 1973), pp. amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; In 2002, Alpha Natural Resources purchased what remained of Pttstons coal business. As residents gather this weekend on the 50th anniversary of one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history, theyre also able to revel in a comeback. Mine Safety Health Administration lists 570 active coal impoundments across the country. 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. The moving wall of wastewater did its damage in seconds, in repeated fashion, as it moved down the hollow. To their site, American Journal of Psychiatry, March 9, 1972 on! 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