This article originally provided by WVAH TV

February 26, 2007

ON THIS DAY IN 1972 ... ONE OF THE WORST DISASTERS IN MOUNTAIN STATE HISTORY. THREE COAL IMPOUNDMENTS BURST IN BUFFALO CREEK HOLLOW IN LOGAN COUNTY... SENDING MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF MINE WASTEWATER THUNDERING DOWN THE VALLEY. TODAY ... THE 125 VICTIMS WERE REMEMBERED.

JAKE GLANCE IS LIVE IN OUR STUDIO WITH THIS STORY, JAKE?

DEBORAH ... IT MAY HAVE BEEN 35 YEARS AGO ... BUT THE MEMORIES OF THAT SATURDAY MORNING WHEN 16 COAL TOWNS WERE LITERALLY WIPED OFF THE MAP ... HAVE NOT FADED AWAY.

Arley Johnson/Survivor

100904 - "As we got out, we could see the water coming over the bank and heading our way."

100915 - "It started out just as a flood would, the water was coming over the bank, then with every succeeding second it came faster and faster. Then the water just rolled, you could see it rolling down the valley. A black wall of water."

100931 - "That flood took 10 to 15 minutes, and it was total black sludge water, about 130 million gallons of sludge. And it just moved houses. Like matchsticks they were just being moved. And cars, and we saw trees bend and railroad tracks wrapped around trees."

100954 - "Everyone looked the same. They all looked black. Because it was all black sludge water. This was a sludge pond. This was water they used to wash the coal, then they put it in an earthen dam and over the years just kept building it up and backing it up."

101008 - "They were all black. Hair, nose, mouth. Some were stripped of their clothing, okay? It was horrible. It was a horrible thing for me to see."

101058 - "When you're talking about mountaintop removal mining and other types of mining, they have got to be done responsibly. They need to follow the federal and state law. And make sure its done responsibly. No one should be given a pass on this."

Denver Mitchell/Eyewitness

164854 - "When the water did go down, it would leave nothing but pure ... it looked like oil, coal. Pure black looking stuff on the roads and things."

164810 - "As the water come down that day, the water started building up. Old, coal, sooty, black looking water."

NATS - "Water."

Arley Johnson/Flood Survivor 100915 - "It started out just as a flood would, the water was coming over the bank, then with every succeeding second it came faster and faster."

NATS - "Water."

Denver Mitchell/Eyewitness 164810 - "The water started building up. Old, coal, sooty, black looking water."

THAT BLACK WATER ... WOULD KILL 125 PEOPLE, INJURE 11 HUNDRED, AND LEAVE 4 THOUSAND HOMELESS ON FEBRUARY 26TH, 1972. WHEN THE FLOOD HAPPENED, ARLEY JOHNSON WAS JUST 12 YEARS OLD.

Arley Johnson/Flood Survivor 100931 - "And it just moved houses. Like matchsticks they were just being moved. And cars, and we saw trees bend and railroad tracks wrapped around trees."

HIGH ABOVE HIS HOME ... 3 PITTSTON COAL COMPANY DAMS HOLDING BACK MILLION OF GALLONS OF MINE WASTEWATER BURST AFTER DAYS OF HEAVY RAIN.

Arley Johnson/Flood Survivor 100915 - "You could see it rolling down the valley. A black wall of water."

NATS - "Memorial."

ON THE ANNIVERSARY ... DOZENS CAME TO REMEMBER THE VICTIMS ... BUT ALSO TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE DANGERS OF IRRESPONSIBLE MINING. BUT SOME, LIKE ARLEY JOHNSON DON'T NEED TO BE WARNED. EVEN THOUGH ITS BEEN 35 YEARS, HE HASN'T FORGOTTEN SEEING THE VICTIMS.

Arley Johnson 100954 - "Everyone looked the same. They all looked black. Because it was all black sludge water." // 101008 - "They were all black. Hair, nose, mouth. Some were stripped of their clothing, okay? It was horrible. It was a horrible thing for me to see."

THE STATE SUED PITTSTON FOR 100 MILLION DOLLARS ... BUT GOVERNOR ARCH MOORE NEGOTIATED A SETTLEMENT OF JUST 1 MILLION BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE IN 1977.

600 SURVIVORS OF THE FLOOD EVENTUALLY SUED FOR ABOUT 64 MILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGES.

THEY SETTLED IN 1974 FOR JUST 13 MILLION ... THAT'S ABOUT 13 THOUSAND PER PERSON AFTER LEGAL FEES.

LIVE IN THE STUDIO, JAKE GLANCE. EYEWITNESS NEWS.