| Governor Moore attempted to use the opportunity
to execute a 10- year-old plan to construct a super highway through
Buffalo Creek hollow into Raleigh County. The flood would have
allowed Moore to build the highway entirely with federal disaster
funds. The state Department of Highways condemned and purchased
hundreds of property lots from survivors. A two-lane road was
constructed but the proposed super highway never materialized. In
many instances, the state refused to sell property back to its
original owners. |
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| The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' "clean up" of
the flood-ravaged area cost $3.7 million. The state of West
Virginia negotiated with the federal government until 1988, finally
agreeing to repay $9.5 million to cover clean-up costs and a
portion of the interest. The state sued Pittston for $100 million,
$50 million of which was earmarked to recoup the cost of damages
and recovery efforts. Governor Moore negotiated a $1 million
settlement just three days prior to leaving office in
1977. |
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Numerous lawsuits were filed. In the largest
class action suit, some 600 survivors and family members of victims
sued Pittston for $64 million. They settled out of court for $13.5
million in 1974, with each individual receiving an average of
$13,000 after legal costs. A 70-year-old man commented to a
Pittston attorney, "I've often thought some of this stuff could
have been avoided if somebody would have come around and
said,
`Here's a blanket and here's a dress for
your wife' or `Here's a sandwich. Could I give you a cup of
coffee?' But they never showed up. Nobody showed up to give us a
place to stay. . . The Pittston Company never offered me a pair of
pants to put on, no shirt. . . ."
quote from Everything in Its Path, by Kai T. Erikson |
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| The lawyers for the plaintiffs, Arnold &
Porter of Washington, D.C., donated a portion of their legal fees
for the construction of a new community center. The state never
built the center promised by Governor Moore in May
1972. |
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