Buffalo Creek Flood of '72: Why Environmental Disasters are Nothing New In West Virginia

by Nomad

Next month marks the 42nd anniversary of one of West Virginia's worst man-made disaster, The Buffalo Creek Flood. We take a look back to learn what did and what did not happen and why it is important for the people of West Virginia in the aftermath of the recent chemical spill.

A Man-Made Disaster

On an early Saturday morning on February 26th, 1972, West Virginia was the scene of one of the worst man-made disasters in this country's history. Without warning, a retaining dam wall built by a local coal mining company to hold the immense coal-waste refuse pile gave way. The coal slurry rolled down from the nearby hill and thundered down into the long narrow Buffalo Creek Valley. 

The black wave of rainwater, black coal-waste water, and sludge from a coal washing operation- an estimated 130 million gallons of it- created a deadly a 20 to 30-foot tidal wave, catching the residents completely unaware. The tsunami traveled at a speed reaching 30 miles per hours and ended up devastating sixteen small communities. 

The slurry was deadly in another way too. Here is a list of the chemicals typically found in coal slurry and sludge. 

According to one source:

Chronic exposure to the metals found in coal slurry can damage virtually every part of the body. Health problems caused by these metals include intestinal lesions, neuropathy, kidney and liver failure, cancer, high blood pressure, brittle bones, miscarriages and birth defects among others. Studies of the effects of coal slurry on human cell tissues have found evidence that coal slurry causes cancerous proliferation, cell death and damage to kidney cells.

Of course, the victims had more to worry about than the long-term effects of exposure to toxic waste. Over 125 people died immediately, of those most were women and children unable to extract themselves from the sludge and debris. There were over 4000 survivors and in the end, 1000 of their homes and all of their possessions were destroyed.

Waiting for America's Bhopal: How Budget Cuts and De-Regulation Are Making the Unimaginable Inevitable

by Nomad

Last year's West, Texas explosion and this week's West Virginia chemical leak could just be a wake up call to the nation. De-regulation and budget cutting may make us more competitive but at what cost?

A single environmental disaster could affect the lives of millions of people, cost the state billions and make entire areas uninhabitable. And that  could make the discussion of de-regulation and budget-cuts completely null and void.

Not long ago I read the book Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster. It's the kind of book that you know you should read but dread to begin. It's an exceedingly thoroughly-researched book and at times, slow going. In spite of that,  in these days when environmental regulations are under attack by the conservative Republicans, it should be on every American's reading list.

Most people, I suppose, have heard of the industrial disaster at Bhopal but here's a little refresher.

The Bhopal Event

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, in the town of Bhopal, India, a nearby Union Carbide plant, which manufactured insecticides, accidentally released a heavy toxic cloud of chemicals into the surrounding residential area. The heavy cloud hovered over the area, which was comprised mostly of crowded slums. It literally fumigated the unsuspecting village, mercilessly killing the people that lived there.

Within hours, things quickly collapsed. Panic and confusion spread and any kind of coordinated response was impossible. The local government was totally ill-equipped to handle the emergency. (The very idea that it could happen at all seems never to have crossed their minds.)