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ac ti vitie s. Th i s s t udy is curr e ntl y und e rway a s a coope r a ti ve eff ort by both f edera l an d s t a t e personn e l. In a ddition, t he Sec ret ary is t o " â¢â¢â¢ p r ov i de a dv i ce and counsel to th e States in th e na t ur e o f t ime l y r emedial meas ures to mitigate or obv i ate the haz a rdou s conditio ns ." Al so a t the federal level, Hollis M. Dole, Ass i s t an t Sec r eta r y of the Inte rior f or Mineral Resourc e s, has ur ged Congr ess to p a ss President Nix on's Mined Area Protection Ac t. Th i s Ac t woul d r equi r e mi ne ope r a tors to submit reclamation plans to insur e aga i ns t fl oodin g as a res ult of minin g activity. In effect, this Act ext ends fe de r al aut hority to p otenti a l public ha z ards rather than be i ng confin ed to haza r ds t o miners only as provided by the Federal Coal Mine He al t h and Saf e ty Act, Dec ember 30, 1969. An en gineerin g study of Dam No. 3 is curr entl y be in g cond uc t ed by a priv at e con sultant under a contract with the Department of Interior. Field bori ngs and t e sts, labor a tory tests, and detailed s t abilit y analy - sis ar e being conducted. VI . RECOMME NDED INVESTIGATION The failure of Dam No. 3 on the Middle For k emphas i zes t ha t the f ail ur e of a dam ret aining a relati vely small hei ght of wa ter ca n be cat a s t r ophi c, p a rticul a rl y whe n pl ac e d in a nar r ow, popul ated v a ll ey . In Wes t Vir gin i a , as well a s oth e r p art s of th e U. S., th ere ar e many dams which cons titut e a p ot e nti al h aza rd to t he heal th and safe t y of th e peop le downs tr eam. 13
