Burtston Disaster

Gerald M. Stern’s novel, The Buffalo Creek Disaster, helps students better understand the civil procedure process by describing the process through an actual case Stern himself litigated. The case began in 1972 after a dam collapsed in Buffalo Creek, West Virginia, killing 125 people and destroying many homes. Other than property damage and loss of loved ones, those who survived suffered what Stern referred to as psychic impairment, or mental suffering. Stern’s lawsuit involved 625 plaintiffs suing the Pittston Coal Group, or the stockholder of the Buffalo Mining Company, for compensatory and punitive damages. Stern had to choose a court and a judge, decide how much relief the plaintiffs were seeking, depose witnesses, and work with the defendant’s counsel

Imagine about 100 years into the future, do you see a flourishing earth with sustained life and beautiful scenery or do you imagine a deserted waste land run dry of all natural resources? Which would you rather have? The book Saints at the River written by novelist Ron Rash explores how the single act of a small girl’s drowning can lead to a moral and ethical conundrum about whether alterations should be made to the river to retrieve her body and how this is essential to the families need to grieve over the loss of their child or how the additions of things like a temporary Dam causes more damage than its worth as expressed by those who advocate for the protection of this natural free-flowing river. The protection of natural rivers, like the

The Grand Coulee Dam, located in Eastern Washington, was one of controversy, risk, and a point of no return. While the water captured made the desert area blossom in agriculture and it powered some large cities, it created a sense of accomplishment, that humans can control Mother Nature. While many people were very excited for this new construction – which gives power and resources - at the time, some thought it should not be allowed, they are not proud of containing the Columbia River. In this analysis, I am going to focus on the economic and social effects that the Grand Coulee Dam created in its build.

The people were effected not only physically, but some people even developed depression, anxiety, and attacks of post-traumatic stress disorder. The community also took a blow because of 5,000 people of the population, 125 were killed, 1,121 were injured, and over 4,000 were left homeless. The houses of people and families was destroyed. 507 houses were destroyed, in addition to forty-four mobile homes and 30 businesses. The disaster left a trail of bad memories that people in the community will never forget. Some of the bodies were washed 40 miles downstream and some of them were never found. A few were impossible to identify. For the survivors, the trauma was multi-dimensional, physical, financial, emotional and even psychological. The disaster received national attention, and resulted in an unwelcome spotlight being shined on West Virginia 's coal industry. Investigations were launched and Pittston Coal lawyered up. To the outrage of the survivors and, indeed, most W. Virginians, the company 's immediate response to the disaster was to claim it was "an Act of God", for which they weren 't responsible. Some people even say that what happened there was not the work of a capricious God. It was the hand of Man that killed those people. Most people could not believe that the disaster happened even after years of having time to accept the fact that it did

At 7:45 AM, as the men were doing repair work, water started to flow down the valley. Multiple lives could potentially have been saved if residents of the Buffalo Hallow were informed of the potential disaster and magnitude of its occurrence. The Pittston Coal Company ignored warnings from all major government departments like the mining bureau, the National Guard, the State Police, and even the local sheriff’s office. At 7:59 AM, the dam officially collapsed and lead to major blasts as boiling yellow suffer coal deposits came in contact with rushing water from the stream. At 8:01 AM, a huge outburst of 130 million gallons of water stream swept away the whole Buffalo Creek and drifted along all the coal manufacturing waste with it. This tragedy claimed 123 lives, injured 1000 and also left 4000 people homeless. Alongside these statistics, the disaster left countless scars on the survivors and the citizens of West Virginia. In an attempt to absolve The Pittson Coal Company from any legal responsibility, company officials insisted the flood was “an act of God”. They argued that there absolutely nothing with the dam expect that it

During the month of November, me, Luis, and 3 of my other suitemates entered the KEEN Case and Commerce Engineering Challenge at Gonzaga University. In this 12 hour challenge, we were asked to present our solutions to various challenges involving ethics, energy, pollution, and cost. This experience taught us the importance of teamwork and communication when proposing solutions in engineering and to consider the effects the proposal will have on all people in the surrounding community, including the underrepresented populations in the engineering workforce. In our particular case, we had to perform research on the death and suffering that the Native American population endured as a result of the implementation of dams along the Spokane River due to the miscommunication between tribal leaders and government officials. This practice also applies to the Latino community as well since us engineers hold the responsibility of looking out for the well-being of all surrounding communities based off of our proposed solutions and to consider the potential advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, this was a crucial learning point for me that has opened my eyes to the potential negative consequences that can result due to

On May 31, 1889, a 35-foot-high wall of water, set loose by days of rain and a failed dam, rushed into the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. In its wake, most of the town was destroyed and more than 2,200 lives were lost. The Johnstown Flood was one of the worst natural disasters ever seen in the United States and brought in relief from all over the nation and world. For Clara Barton, the Johnstown Flood disaster was the first test for her newly formed Red Cross. About 3:00 p.m. on May 31, 1889, water had backed up to the point where it began to spill over the South Ford Dam. It wasn't long before the entire dam broke, sending 20 million tons of water rushing down the narrow Conemaugh Valley. The "terrible wave" reportedly sounded like a freight

Packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it made landfall, the category 3 storm left more than a million people in three states without power and submerged highways even hundreds of miles from its center. The hurricane’s storm surge — a 29-foot wall of water pushed ashore when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast — was the highest ever measured in the United States. Levees failed in New Orleans, resulting in political and social upheavals that continued a half decade later. (Laforet, New York Times)

This case study highlights that the Nevada Four were spiritually and had long term personal connections to do something good for the Wetlands. Upon being neglecting, these four bureaucrats took action and got involved with going behind their superior back to see fit to their beliefs and passion for the Wetlands. The Wetlands future was in the hands of the Department of Interior, in which the Nevada four felt wasn’t making any progression and decided to take action and attack from the outside. These four guerilla were natural scientists, who became experts in public relations. The Nevada four seen an opportunity to publicize their concern and get their agenda on the table when 7.5 million tui chub fish were found DEAD. Their mentioned that the cause of death was unknown and there could be a possibility that the Bureau of Reclamation could have something to do with this crisis. The “decisive trigger” was the angle the Nevada Four was looking to take, they understood that things had to get bad or at least seem bad, before anyone would do anything. They were denied once again for funding, so they took action and contacted owner of the inactive water to donate their water rights. This change the game, and was considered thinking outside the box, which their felt the Department of Interior would have never approved. The Nevada Four looked to give credit for success to other, because they were dedicated to a goal, and not to personal aggrandizement.

The large amount of rain caused the South Fork Dam to collapse on May 31, 1889 at 3:10 p.m.. The lake drained in only forty minutes causing twenty million tons of water to flood the area. The water moved at forty miles per hour going over everything in its path. Thirty-three train engines were even pulled into the water. The town of South Fork was uphill so most were able to get away. Although, at this point twenty to thirty houses were destroyed and four people were dead. Johnstown was still fourteen miles away and yet to be hit. Finally, fifty-seven minutes after the dam collapsed, Johnstown was hit by the flood. The people of Johnstown were not expecting this, so most were carried away by the flood. The Johnstown Flood of 1889 claimed 2,209 lives. It is believed that this has one of the biggest losses of life in the United States. In total ninety-nine families were killed by the natural disaster and seven hundred seventy-seven people were never identified. Sixteen hundred homes were gone and there was seventeen million dollars in property damage. It took a total of five years to rebuild Johnstown. Therefore, The Johnstown Flood of 1889 was one of the worst natural

Today I am arguing a case for the Boulder Dam. It will be located in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River on the border between Nevada and Arizona. The dam will provide hydroelectric power for places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and other urban center. Originally, farmers had made an attempt to redirect the Colorado through the use of canals, but these canals broke in 1905 and the dam is a viable replacement. Not only will it provide water and hydroelectric power to the developing southwest, it can control the seasonal flooding of the Colorado River and irrigate land in California’s Imperial Valley. Although the construction will be expensive, the power it produces will cover the costs. This would help farmers and other workers in the southwest and the construction can provide thousands of jobs for laborers. I was once concerned that the water will primarily go to California, but Herbert Hoover brokered a compact in 1922, the Colorado River Compact, to divide the water proportionally among the seven states. President Calvin Coolidge will hopefully authorize the Boudler Canyon Project to end the legal wrangling of the

Through the litigation and more specifically the discovery process, Pittston became answerable to the people of the town. Depositions of key Pittston personnel revealed that Pittston knew that it was exposing the people to significant risk of the flood. With the revelation of this information, Pittston faced true exposure to punitive damages and, consequently, power shifted to the townspeople. Thereafter, Pittston settled the claims and finally compensated the victims for their loss. Beyond that, the settlement served as a check on Pittston, deterring it from constructing another faulty dam. The threat of this type of litigation forces large corporations like Pittston to rethink business decisions that could possibly place the public in harm’s

How many people were affected by the disaster? (died, had to move, were affected by, etc.)

Primary sources about the construction of the Hoover Dam were few and far between, and several of those were not beneficial to the study. Due to my lack of infinite wisdom about the Hoover Dam, it was difficult to talk about the significance without the capability to see a first hand point of view. In addition, there was a lack of sources regarding the negative consequences associated with the Hoover Dam. Without the ability to understand the negative aspects, my views on the Hoover Dam had to be very one sided. There are many inferences that can be made about possible adverse effects of the area, however, there are no sources linking impacts directly to the dam. Were I to have had access to primary sources, or sources about adverse effects, it would broaden my view on the overall significance of the dam. This would allow me to more accurately and effectively assess the significance of the Hoover Dam from its creation until present

In the early morning hours the weather warnings became more urgent and hundreds of people, including me, were forced to evacuate their homes as the city’s two rivers burst over their banks flooding homes, businesses and roads. Twelve people in my county lost their lives, including