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BUFFALOCREEKREPORT I. I NTRODUCTION At approxim a t el y 8 a . m. on Saturday, February 26 , 1972, a coal refu se dam (des ignated as Dam No. 3 in thi s r eport) located near the mouth of the Middle Fork of Buffalo Creek at Saunde r s, West Virginia, failed (s ee Fig ur e 1). The failure released approximately 176 milli on ga llons of water into the Buffalo Creek Valley. Prior to entering Buffalo Creek, the water broke through two other dams (designated as Dam No. 1 and Dam No. 2). The flood waters flowed along Buffalo Creek Valley to Man, West Virginia, where they entered the Guyandotte River (see Figure 2). In the thr ee hours it took to traverse the 17- mile len gth of the Buffalo Cre ek Valley, the flood produced damage estim a ted to be betwee n 30 and 50 million dollars. In addition, the flood caused 118 deaths , left approximately 4,000 homeless, and destroy ed or ser iou s l y damaged appro ximately 850 permanent and mobile homes . Also destroyed were approximate ly 1,000 cars and trucks, several highway and rail way bridges , sec tions of railroad tra c ks and highw ays, and portions of util - i t y fac ilities . The Office of Emergency Preparedness estimated the cost of the flood to the 17 participating federa l agencies to be approxim a tely 1
$22 million , whi ch i nc lud ed $7 mill1."on 1.·n disaste r relief and ~il2 million in funds fo r road r econ s truction . Shortly a fter the Buffa lo Creek flood, t he Committ ee on Natur al Disas t e r s of the Natio n al Ai:ademy of Eng1.·neer1.·ng appoint ed an inspection t eam h e aded by Professor T. w1.·11 1.·am Lambe , Massach use tt s Institute of Tec hnolo gy , and in cluding P·rofessor Roger K. Seals , West Virgini a Univer - sity, and Mr . W. All en Marr , Massachusetts Institute of Techn olo gy . The team wen t to Buffalo Creek ,on March 4 , 1972, to t ake photo gr aplns and re c ord their personal ob se rv a tion s . Initially, the team made an ae ria l observat io n of th e darn s ites, th en a ground - le vel in spec tio n of Buffalo Cre ek Valley and the dam sites along Middle Fork . This report summari zes the observatio ns , fi ndin gs , and r ecom- mendat i ons of th e inspection team . It attempts to describe the condi t ions prior to the fail ure , the failu re itself , and the consequences of the failure . Recommendat i ons are made for further s tudie s . In writing this r eport, the t eam has drawn upo n its personal observations and experiences , and upo n t he fo llo win g p ubli cat ion s , art i c l es , and newspapers: : 1. Prelimina ry Analysi s of t he Coal Refuse Dam Failure at Sa unders, West Virginia, Feb ru ary 26, 1972, U. S. Departme nt of In t erior Task Forc e t o St udy Co al Wast e Hazards, March 12 , 1972 . 2 , Res ults of Preliminary Examinations of Coal Waste Banks in Southe r n West Vi r ginia , W. E . Davies and J . Gall aher, De cember 5 , 1966. 3 . " Desi gn of Dams for Mill Tailin gs ," C. Dl. Kea81 4ylOandU~ - L. Soderb e rg, Bur ea u. of Min es Information Circu ar , . ⢠Department of I n terior, 1969. 2
