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 as part of a hydroelectric project. The three mile tunnel was constructed by Union Carbide beginning in 1927. The tunnel was filled with silica dust and the workers were not given masks for protection, even though management wore such masks during the short times they visited for inspection. As a result, thousands of workers, mostly poor and African American, died from silicosis, sometimes as quickly as within a single year.
Resources
- The Hawk's Nest Incident by Martin Cherniak (1986)
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