April 16, 1973Plaintiffs moved to amend their complaint to add additional Erikson, Disaster at Buffalo Creek. Bridges were smashed to bits. Additionally, on one side of the valley below Dam #1, there was a huge smoldering coal refuse pile. 3 was rising one or two inches per hour. Eventually, she and her husband, Arthur, rebuilt on the same spot as the old house. Kai Eriksons book, Everything In Its Path: Destruc-tion of Community in The Buffalo Creek Flood. As I rode that house down the creek I could see that the bottom of it was above those telephone poles in the holler.. Some residents in the area, especially those who lived in the town of Saunders, located in the valley directly below the dams, had worried for years about the dams strength. As an article in Vox noted, this kind of stereotyping is on full display in the popular book and film Hillbilly Elegy. Committee in a lawsuit against Pittston. It took just over 15 minutes. 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. For the first time, individuals who were not present at the scene of a disaster were allowed to recover for mental injuries. Click for copy. "A Town Stood Here," Life Magazine, 10-10-1972. Penny Loeb's 2007 book, "Moving Mountains". 1969Congress enacted the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. Survivor Tim Hall, a Lundale native who now lives at Mud Fork near Logan, said the flood was worse than any other disaster because of the destruction it caused. At one point, West Virginia Governor Arch Moore, complaining that the states image was getting a bad rap from the media, closed the Buffalo Creek area to reporters. October 8, 1971Pittston promisedWVDNRto install an emergency February 1972. October 6, 1982: Buffalo Creek flood settlement. BUFFALO CREEK, W.Va Sunday marked the 45th anniversary of the deadly Buffalo Creek disaster in Logan . University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Appalachian Studies Association, Inc. Journal of American Studies, Vol. 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. In March 1967, a partial collapse at one of the dams caused some flooding in the hollow, alarming residents already concerned about the structures. (3) U.S. Congress. The first restoration, however, came with the railroads, rebuilt to serve the mines, which were operating again within a week of the flood. 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. The black wall of water was later estimated to have moved at a rate of seven feet per second. Modern Marvels: The Buffalo Creek Disaster (History Channel production), YouTube.com (9:27). They lost loved ones, their homes, their neighbors, their community. As of February 1st, 1972, dam No. According to some, however, there were positive changes that did come to coalfield and regulatory practices in the years immediately following the disaster. November 20, 1968: Farmington coal mine disaster But it brings back memories. Approximately 550 homes were destroyed, and another 900-plus were damaged. Your access to this service has been limited. Were going to live here as long as he works here, she said, adding that without the dam, we could be over here safely.. The association will hold its annual kids fishing event in April, giving away 125 rods and reels and other fishing gear. The law appears ill-suited to relieve the victims of a disaster, who often have been scarred emotionally not by physical contact but by the destruction of their families, homes, and communities, writes Robert L. Rabin in a 1978 Stanford Law Review article examining the legal ramifications of Buffalo Creek. 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. (the diversity amount-in-controversy amount at the time). Stephen Young, a Marshall University professor and criminologist, recently wrote an article focused on the 2014 Elk River chemical spill, which left 300,000 West Virginians without clean water. West Virginia Governor's report: "The Buffalo Creek Flood And Disaster". Local high school students were brought in by the busload, helping them to fulfill the 40 hours of community service required to graduate. The result of the dam bursting was 132 million gallons of black wastewater being unleashed onto the 16 communities that encompass Buffalo Creek. 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. and damage claims. I saw my neighbors houses leave. Pittston failed to obtain an independent engineering opinion on the Buffalo Railroad rails were twisted, cars were everywhere, bridges were on the roads instead of over the creek.. ensued. They flew me out and we landed right here on this road. 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. (HTTP response code 503). Debris was everywhere. Restockings now happen several times a year. 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. BMCfilled the hole with more coal refuse. amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; 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. [Gerald M Stern] -- This volume describes the Buffalo Creek Flood -- and also the investigation and legal actions that followed. Jack Spadaro, a mine safety investigator and environmental specialist, has made it his life's work to prevent such disasters from happening again. 3 was under construction and about 50 percent completed. 1929). Robert Shogan's 2004 book, "The Battle of Blair Mountain". gave way, killing eight people. There had been emergency relief, but little community redevelopment. Homes were left in splinters Railroad tracks yanked up and twisted. Generated by Wordfence at Wed, 1 Mar 2023 10:03:54 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. Long after the Feb. 26, 1972, disaster, the poisoned creek had no life. Roads werent where they used to be, nor were houses. 16, No. I dont know where. When the deluge receded, he saw bodies along the long walk to check on relatives, images that have been seared into the veterans mind. Engineering, Not Rainfall, Given Blame, Logan Banner, March 9, 1972. February 1972. Jack Spadaro, a mine safety investigator and environmental specialist, has made it his lifes work to prevent such disasters from happening again. Stereotypesparticularly the white trash stereotypes depicting Appalachians as lazy, ignorant, and hopelessallow for the continued exploitation of Appalachia by industry. On Saturday, victims were being remembered at the same high school that served as a temporary morgue 50 years ago. 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. not in the Prince lawsuit filed in federal district court. 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. Click for copy. This resolution was passed in spirit only. "300 acres of area covered by water a foot deep". They looked like huge metallic pretzels. Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com. Published: Feb. 27, 2022 at 12:17 PM PST. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Mannix Porterfield, a reporter who covered the events of that tragic day, later recalled the destruction left in the floods wake. 1970Pittstons London insurance underwriters inquired about all of its I watched them crumble. President Richard Nixon, then in China, had contacted Moore by phone to promise Federal disaster aid. In March 1968, DNR notified the Logan County Prosecuting Attorney of Pearl Woodrums letter, but no action was taken at the local level or by the state. He lives in my building. Buffalo Mining Companys Senator Jennings Randolph (D-WV) visited Man High School, a temporary refugee location for Buffalo Creek survivors. You may opt-out anytime by clicking "unsubscribe" from the newsletter or from your account. Scholarship on the disaster also helps us get to know the peoplethe victims, the survivorsinvolved. It just broke your heart to see firsthand the devastation that water could do, he would tell a Herald Dispatch reporter. He argues that stereotypesparticularly the white trash stereotypes depicting Appalachians as lazy, ignorant, and hopelessallow for the continued exploitation of Appalachia by industry. The spill covered the surrounding land with up to six feet of sludge. When forced to give up these long-standing ties with familiar places and people, the . a federal safety standard prohibiting refuse piles from impeding drainage or impounding It just doesnt seem that long ago that it happened, Harvey said. By September 1972, the two competing West Virginia commissions one from the Governor, and the other a Citizens Commission issued their reports. Today is the 40th anniversary of the dam bursting which was owned by Pittston Coal Company. In the early morning hours of Saturday, February 26th, 1972, after three days of rain, a series of coal slurry impoundments in the upper reaches of the Buffalo Creek watershed in Logan County, West Virginia, were beginning to weaken. State of West Virginia sued Pittston in both state and federal court for the states A Town Stood Here, Life, October 10, 1972. They relate the story of a group of survivors who formed their own support group without outside help. Senator). As of 1987, Pittston was still among the ten largest coal companies in the U.S. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; 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. 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. 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. State officials requested a few minor alterations to the impoundment. The pool was within three feet of the crest of the dam, and ominous cracks appeared. that the ultimate effect of [any] claims [related to the Buffalo Creek disaster] [I]n true Appalachian fashion, few people are ready to accept the responsibility of leadership is another. Approximately 550 homes were destroyed, and another 900-plus . 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. Jack Doyle, "Buffalo Creek Disaster: 1972,"PopHistoryDig, January 31, 2019. wvculture/history/buffcreek . The Citizens report also noted that strip mining above the dam had likely contributed to its over-filling. November 14, 1970: Marshall University football team killed in plane crash. 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.. Miles away, a coal companys hillside impoundment dams collapsed, sending slurry thundering downhill and into the hollow, inundating small communities and killing 125 people. I found the use of . The floods aftermath was widespread property destruction and the deaths of 125 people three of which were babies who were never identified. about future Aberfan disasters. Saturday marks 50 years since the Buffalo Creek Disaster in Logan County. 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