There was some basis for holding the State of WV responsible for the Buffalo Creek Disaster (BCD) since a WV statute prohibits the construction of any dam or other obstruction over 15 feet in height across any stream or watercourse without a prior determination by the State that it is safe. The State of WV had never agreed that Dam 3 (which was 60 feet high) was safe. The State was at fault for not enforcing its own laws. But Arch Moore, the Governor of WV blamed the trouble on the media, the “irresponsible” media that publicized these attacks. Governor Moore qualified the mediatization “an even greater tragedy than the accident itself”.
1. Why was the building of the dam first proposed in 1919 and by whom?
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
He found that the Colorado River was the best source. In 1925, the Department of Water and Power (DWP) was established. Now what came to be called the Colorado River Aqueduct, needed financing to be accomplished. Voters from the region approved a $2 million bond to perform the engineering needed for the aqueduct. In 1928, an act of the State Legislature, created the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), and its purpose was to construct the Colorado River aqueduct to supply water to Southern California. By 1931, voters issued another bond for $220 million that would start the construction of the aqueduct. By 1941 the aqueduct was completed stretching 242 miles from the Colorado River to its final holding reservoir near Riverside, California. The Colorado River Aqueduct consists of more than 90 miles of tunnels, 55 miles of conduit, 30 miles of siphons, five pumping stations, 5 treatment plants, and 9 reservoirs. All of this can supply about 1.2 million-acre-feet of water every year, which is more than a billion gallons a day. This caused phenomenal growth of Los Angeles, San Diego and neighboring areas. The aqueduct is capable of lifting more than 1600 cfs to a static height of 1600 feet as it takes a path through mountains and deserts. Upon the completion of the Colorado River Aqueduct in 1941, the Municipal Water District began to wholesale Colorado River water to its member agencies. Today those agencies include 14 cities, 12 municipal water districts, and a county water authority. More than 130 municipalities and many unincorporated areas are served by this project of the DWP’s and Mulholland’s vision. Before Mulholland died on July 22, 1935, he lived to see the inaugurations of the Colorado River Aqueduct and Hoover Dam, constructed in the spirit of significance he had always
Once O’Shaughnessy and Strauss believed they could build the bridge, politics came into the picture. In 1923, the California state legislature passes a bill that allowed the establishment of a Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District. The district’s job was to oversee the project and run the bridge once it was built. Over the next few years, many people spoke up both for and against the building of the bridge. The land on both ends of the bridge was owned by the U.S. military. Before any plans could move forward, the military would have to approve the project and give the Bridge District permission to use War Department land. An army colonel was appointed to hold hearings on the matter and “for seven months, he listened to both
When deciding whether of not to support the construction of a new dam, we have to use the process of cooperating, communicating, and thinking to come to a logical conclusion that is best for this world. Cooperating is important because it allows people to work together to come to a final decision by using everyones knowledge. Communication is also needed to tell others your opinion and to share the pros and cons of creating a dam. Lastly, thinking like a scientist is greatly needed. When making a decision like this, bias must be out of the opinions given and facts are needed because creating a dam can greatly affect the
The Three Gorges Dam is an unfinished project which will be the largest dam ever constructed on the planet Earth. It is situated in China on the third largest river in the world – the Yangtze. The dam has been debated over since the 1919 and is still a hot topic of debate because of its many pros and cons. In 1994 construction began on the dam, and it is expected to be finished by the year 2009. The massive dimensions of the dam are mind boggling and its functions – if the dam actually works – are truly remarkable; however, with such a large structure also comes difficulties, sacrifices, and cynics. The goal of this essay is to lend an understanding of the dam itself, the prospective benefits of
William Mulholland had a vision that Los Angeles would one day grow in size , population , and power . His dream came true after he came up with a plan to change the Los Angeles water system forever. Certain that this would happen Mulholland shared his idea with Fredrick Eaton the mayor of Los Angeles hoping that he would approve. At that moment Eaton realized that the water could flow from the Owens River to Los Angeles through an aqueduct . With this idea Eaton sent posers to Owens Valley claiming that Owens Valley would gain power , water , and , money but instead the water was diverted to Los Angeles after the construction of the aqueduct was overseen by William Mulholland .
Since the population of Los Angeles was increasing, the city needed more water. The city population was over the city’s water supply capacity that if it was kept going, the city would start depopulated. William Mulholland was the one who solved this problem and became a hero of the city. He just did not start being a hero. He moved from Britain to California, and entered the water business after 1877. Throughout his career as a hydraulic engineer, he voiced the belief that L.A. faced a perpetual water shortage, so he was asked for more efficient sources of water (Nicolaides 238). Basically to maintain his power and to solve the city’s problem, he decided to bring Owen’s river water through water pipes. Since the water would come from a different
While the catastrophic failure of the levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina can be attributed to the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”), the Corps’ failures can be attributed to fundamental flaws within the accountability environments they were operating in during both the building and the maintenance of the levees. Legal and bureaucratic accountability were the primary and secondary accountability approaches at work, with legal accountability most notable during their planning and construction process, and bureaucratic accountability taking precedence during their oversight process. Ironically, while these are the forms of accountability that should contain the highest degrees of control, critical failures resulting from each of these accountability environments led to the Corps, in practice, having an extremely low degree of control and ultimately led to the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina .
At 14:32 Haring was arrested for OWI and fleeing the scene of an accident. He was taken away for booking and a Data Master Breathalyzer test.
What did the judge do wrong? Which judicial selection option—either appointment, election, or merit—would help to reduce instances of judicial misconduct?
Hakeim Macklin is a fourteen year old African-American male before the Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on charges of trespassing on school property and two counts of destruction of property. On December 21, 2016, Hakeim appeared in Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court with his mother and attorney before the Honorable Substitute Judge first name Nicola. After all evidence was heard, Hakeim was found guilty of destruction of property and trespassing on school property. A social history report was ordered and the case was continued until January 25, 2017. His charge of burglary was continued for trial on the same date.
In 1788, the ratification of the United States Constitution sought to establish the fundamental aspects of the nation’s government, laws, and protections of its citizens’ unalienable rights. Robert G. McCloskey’s The American Supreme Court (2016) explains that, during this period, the prospects of the Supreme Court were essentially unknown. As time progressed, however, the Court began strengthening its legitimacy with its decisions in major landmark court cases which, in turn, established its crucial role in shaping the judicial interests and values of the nation. As such, McCloskey (2016) traces the country’s judicial history by highlighting the Court’s great transitional periods regarding state rights, nation rights, property rights, and slavery. By the start of the 20th century, however, discrepancies began to emerge with the rise of
According to Luth (2000) there were many opportunities throughout the construction and design phase for the design flaw to be recognized by the engineers and there should have been a better review system in place as the changes that were made were not properly reviewed by a structural engineer. This disaster could have been avoided if someone would have taken the time to make sure all the designs were safe and would work