Hawk's Nest incident

The Hawk's Nest Incident  involved injuries and deaths as the result of the construction of the Hawk's Nest Tunnel near Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, USA, as part of a hydroelectric project. The three mile tunnel, diverting the New River under Gauley Mountain, was constructed by Union Carbide beginning in 1927. In the tunnel, they discovered silica and the workers were asked to mine this valuable mineral used in the electroprocessing of steel, but were not given masks for protection, even though management wore such masks during the short times they visited for inspection. As a result, many workers, mostly poor and African American, died from silicosis, sometimes as quickly as within a single year. There are no definitive statistics, but several sources agree that resulting fatalities probably totalled approximately 700 of the 2,000 workers.

Muriel Rukeyser wrote a poetry sequence, "The Book of the Dead", about this disaster, which can be found in her book, U.S. 1 (published in 1938).

A nearby West Virginia Historical Marker at Hawk's Nest reads:
 * "Construction of nearby tunnel, diverting waters of New River through Gauley Mt for hydroelectric power, resulted in state's worst industrial disaster. Silica rock dust caused 109 admitted deaths in mostly black, migrant underground work force of 3,000.  Congressional hearing placed toll at 476 for 1930-35.  Tragedy brought recognition of acute silicosis as occupational lung disease and compensation legislation to protect workers."

Resources

 * The Hawk's Nest Incident by Martin Cherniack (1986)
 * Dying for a Living: The Hawk's Nest Incident, section of Trust Us, We're Experts by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber