This article originally provided by WOWK TV

February 26, 2007

Ceremony Allows Survivors to Remember, Rally to Prevent Another Buffalo Creek Disaster\

(Video available at WOWK website while the story is still up)

Story by Kristen Sell Email | Bio

CHARLESTON -- Cold, black, slimy water -- those images etched into the minds of those who survived the Buffalo Creek disaster, 35 years ago Monday.

They remembered with words. They remembered with song. And for survivors such as Arley Johnson, those memories never will fade away.

"I didn't know what happened to my world that day," Johnson said. "It was turned upside down, and it took a while to recover."

But there was much more than simply rekindling memories at a remembrance ceremony at the State Capitol.

"We, of course, hope that never will a dam break again, but there's always that possibility," said ceremony organizer Bill Price.

The fact that they believe history could repeat itself has some living in fear.

"It's a big concern for us," Chuck Nelson said. "I mean, anytime big heavy rains come and stuff, we're worried about these dams breaking loose. And if it would break loose, it would kill everybody downstream of it."

The dams hold back mining waste, and those living nearby want to know what is in those slurry ponds.

"We worked to get a study resolution, and (it) actually did pass the house (Friday) and is now moving to the senate," Price said.

They hope that study finally will provide answers to questions that haunt them still.

"It's a step. I would like to see it go quicker," Bo Webb said. "I would like to see an escalator instead of steps, so to speak, but yeah, it's a step in the right direction."

Because sometimes one step at a time is the only option, another survivor added.

"Just trying to survive one day at a time," said flood survivor Gertie Moore. "One foot in front of the other, as the old saying goes, so that's what we're still doing 35 years later."

The Sludge Safety Project is a group of concerned citizens. It wants to find out how much groundwater is contaminated by coal slurry, what is in the slurry, and what impact it has on people's health If approved by the Legislature, the study would be done by Jan. 1, 2008.