The Hawk's Nest Incident - Acute Silicosis

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The Hawk's Nest Incident - Acute Silicosis

The Hawk's Nest Incident is one of worst collective occupational health disasters in the USA. It took place in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia in 1927, while digging tunnels as part of a complex plan to build a hydroelectric plant.

The process of working in the tunnel consisted of two three-hour shifts. Holes were drilled in the rock for several feet and then dynamite was inserted in the holes to blast out the remainder of the rock. After the explosion the debris would have to be cleared out. The clearing out of debris involved a lot of contact with silica dust. In addition to the dusty conditions, the use of gasoline powered equipment also polluted the already contaminated air. Personal protective equipment was not offered to workers.

Length of employment rarely lasted over a year as a result of the dangerous working conditions. The records of medical services rendered to the workmen have never been fully recovered, which impeded later . Without medical records, it is very difficult to determine whether or not patients truly suffered from silicosis. Another obstacle in diagnosing these patients was that physicians of the time were not very familiar with silicosis as a disease. An actual number of how many people died as a result of silicosis in Gauley Bridge has never been reached; however, the estimate has been set at around 700 deaths. There have been no authoritarian documents to tell us what exactly happened. The victims remain for the most part anonymous.

In 1932 several lawsuits began to be filed on behalf some of the afflicted workers. Many of the local residents testified of behalf of the workers. The residents claimed that the workers were often coated with dust when they left the work site.

By the mid-1930ís the courts had ruled in favor of compensating the plaintiffs. But the allocation of money was based on race and marital status, just as wages and housing had been earlier. A positive aspect of these hearings was that these hearings opened other people's eyes to the danger of working with silica dust and to the risks involved with working in tunnels and mines.

By the late 1930s most of the nation's leading news magazines such as Time and Newsweek were running articles about the Hawk's Nest Incident. The national exposure that silicosis was now receiving made other industrial projects aware of the danger that was imposed on their workers. In addition to the national exposure this industrial disaster was receiving in print, there was also a song written about the suffering of the men at Hawk's Nest. The famed blues musician, Pinewood Tom, wrote one particular song. This song was appropriately titled "Silicosis Is Killing Me."

Reference for this article: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/hawksnest.htm

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Page last modified on 07-Jan-2007
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