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Ceremony to mark 40th anniversary of Willow Island cooling tower disaster

Photo by Art Smith The names of the 51 construction workers who were killed on April 27, 1978, are affixed in perpetuity at a monument where the community will observe the 40th anniversary of the accident at 6 p.m. today. Fifty-one lanterns carried aloft by hot air balloons with each man’s name will be released in the ceremony.

WILLOW ISLAND — A ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Pleasants Power Station cooling tower disaster at Willow Island will be held at 6 p.m. today at a marker commemorating the tragedy that killed 51 workers.

The accident occurred around 10 a.m. April 27, 1978, during the construction of a second cooling tower at the Pleasants Power Station on West Virginia 2 in Willow Island. A device carrying concrete to the top of the tower failed, starting events causing the scaffold to pull its anchors from the concrete and falling to the ground about 170 feet below.

“I hope a lot of family and friends attend,” said Angie Colvin, an organizer who lost 13 members of her family in the disaster, including her father, Larry Gale Steele. She was a fifth-grader at the time.

“This is to remember and reflect on the memory of our loved ones,” she said.

The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. at the memorial about 200 yards from the site of the collapse on West Virginia 2. The memorial, which lists the names of the 51 men who were killed, was organized by Colvin’s son, Anthony Lauer, first as a school project then as a project to become an Eagle Scout.

Photo by Art Smith A monument organized by Anthony Lauer, grandson of L. Gale Steele, one of 51 victims in the scaffolding collapse at the Pleasants Power Station at Willow Island on April 27, 1978. Lauer started the project as a social studies project while a student at Pleasants County Middle School. The accident happened at tower 2 located nearest to West Virginia 2.

About $73,000 was raised for the monument, she said. It was dedicated April 27, 2002, on the anniversary of the disaster.

The tragedy remains on the mind of residents, said Pleasants County Commissioner Jay Cottrill.

While it is remembered most every day, the feared closure of the Pleasants Power Station, a coal-fired generating facility, announced earlier this year has brought more attention to the disaster and the anniversary, Cottrill said.

“It’s certainly in their hearts, especially with the power plant maybe closing,” he said.

The ceremony will include remarks from Bob Doty, mayor of Belmont when the disaster occurred, said John Armstrong, who is among the volunteers helping Colvin organize the ceremony. Doty and the fire chief opened the firehouse as a temporary morgue where the postmortems, identifications and other matters were handled.

“It was quite an ordeal,” said Doty, now 84.

Doty said he will speak about the families and people who helped in the aftermath, including former State Police Capt. Joe Trupo, who was at the Silver Bridge collapse and the Farmington mine disaster and organized the operations in Willow Island. Trupo said he had never seen a community join together and help in a disaster of this size, Doty said.

Fifty-one lanterns, lifted by hot air, will be released carrying the names of the victims during the ceremony, Armstrong said. Parking will be limited, so a staging area has been arranged where people can park away from the memorial and taken there by a bus from a church, Armstrong said.

“I think there is going to be a lot of people here,” Armstrong said.

A representative from Sen. Joe Manchin will read a letter from the senator and Jeff Mayfield will deliver the closing prayer, Colvin said.

Manchin issued a statement on Thursday, which said “No matter what, one thing that stays the same here in our home state is the unshakable bond between our communities. That is one of the countless things that make West Virginia so special, and the strength of our citizens has been an inspiration to the entire nation. Together, we can take comfort in the fact that the resiliency of our people and the bonds between our communities have always, and will always remain West Virginia strong.”

Readings from scripture are also planned, Colvin said. Shelley Steele, the great-granddaughter of victim L. Gale Steele, and Andrea Yoho, the great-granddaughter of victim James Blouir, and members of the Tiger Scouts from Troop 1, Den 1, in Belmont will read scripture from John 11:25-26, Job 19:25-27, Romans 14:7-8 and Revelations 13:13.

After the accident, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated and sought the maximum fines against three companies, $108,300 in all, for safety violations. The concrete had insufficient time to cure, OSHA said.

Research-Cottrell of Bound Brook. N.J., the company building the tower, was cited with 16 violations, 10 deemed willful, and proposed it be fined $105,100.

General contractor United Engineers and Constructors Inc. and Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory each received two serious citations and were fined $1,600 each.

***

A list of the workers killed in the Willow Island cooling tower tragedy on April 27, 1978, printed in The Parkersburg News on April 28:

* Joseph Bafile, Washington, Pa.

* James Blouir, St. Marys

* Robert Blouir, St. Marys

* Steve Blouir, St. Marys

* Kenneth Boring, Salem, W.Va.

* Richard Bowser, Parkersburg

* Thomas Cross, St. Marys

* Roger Cunningham, Parkersburg

* Larry Deem, Pittsburgh

* Roy F. Deem, Waverly

* Ray Deulley, Glenville

* Darrell Glover, Moundsville

* Loren Keith Glover, Moundsville

* Alvin Goff, Tuppers Plains

* Gary Gossett, Walker

* James Harrison, Parkersburg

* Claude Hendrickson, St. Marys

* Dan Hensler, Newport

* Ken Hill, Midland, Pa.

* Gary Hinkle, Parkersburg

* Roger K. Hunt, Parkersburg

* Tom G. Kaptis, Cairo

* Randy Lowther, St. Marys

* Ronald Mather, Walker

* Howard McBrayer Jr., St. Marys

* Willard McCown, Pennsboro

* Clayton Monroe, Parkersburg

* Robert Moore, Flatwoods, W.Va.

* Chet Payne, St. Marys

* Edgar Phillips, East Liverpool, Ohio

* Raymond Poling, Thornton, W.Va.

* Fred Pride Jr., Pittsburgh

* Robert (Cliff) Riley, Parkersburg

* Ray Rollyson, Pennsboro

* Floyd Rupe, Dexter, Ohio

* Alan Sampson, Parkersburg

* Glen Satterfield, St. Marys

* Jeffrey F. Snyder, Parkersburg

* Emmett Steele, St. Marys

* Ernest Steele, St. Marys

* Larry Gale Steele, St. Marys

* Miles Steele, St. Marys

* Ronald Steele, St. Marys

* Richard Stoke, Waverly

* Richard Swick, Beverly

* Brian Taylor, St. Marys

* Dale Wagoner, Belington, W.Va.

* Charles M. Warren, Parkersburg

* Jack Westfall, Newport

* Louis Wildman, Stouts Mills

* Ronald Yocum, Parkersburg

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