united states mine rescue association | Tank's Poetry |
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A coal refuse retaining dam near the mouth of Middle Fork, Saunders, Logan County, West Virginia, failed about 8 a.m., Saturday, February 26, 1972.
The dam failure released water, refuse, and silt into the valley traversed by Buffalo Creek and created havoc in the narrow valley. The flooding resulted in the confirmed deaths of 125 persons, total destruction of 502 permanent home structures and 44 mobile homes, major damage to 268 additional permanent home structures and 42 mobile homes, and minor damage to 270 additional homes along Buffalo Creek from Saunders to Man, West Virginia, a distance of about 17 miles. It was estimated that about 4,000 persons were left homeless. Numerous homes in the Buffalo Creek area were located above the flood plane and they were not damaged. A considerable number of displaced persons was able to obtain temporary refuge in these homes. The flooding also destroyed about 1,000 automobiles and trucks, highway and railway bridges, sections of railroad tracks and the Macadam Highway, public utility power cables and poles, telephone lines and poles, and other installations. Mine refuse, silt, and debris were scattered for miles along Buffalo Creek. About 60 persons who resided in the Buffalo Creek area remain on the missing list. None of the Buffalo Mining Company's personnel who were on duty at the time of the dam failure died or suffered serious injury because of the flooding. General Information The Buffalo Mining Company, Division of The Pittston Company, operates five underground mines, a strip mine, and two auger mines in the Buffalo Creek area near Saunders, West Virginia. All coal from the mines is processed through a central preparation plant located on Buffalo Creek about 112-mile north of Middle Fork and the town of Saunders. The initial mine in the area, No. 5, was opened in 1945 by the Lorado Coal Mining Company, and the preparation plant for this mine was begun in the fall of 1946 and completed in 1947. Additional mines were opened in the general area thereafter by the Lorado Coal Mining Company and the successor companies. The No. 5 mine and the coal properties of the Lorado Coal Mining Company were acquired by the Buffalo Mining Company in 1964, and the mines were operated by this company until June 1970 when the properties were acquired by The Pittston Company. The size and facilities of the preparation plant were increased as required by the increase of the mine production and market conditions. In February 1972, the preparation plant was operated two 7¼ hour shifts a day, 5 and 6 days a week. The plant processed about 5,200 tons of run-of-mine, raw, coal a day. On an average daily basis, about 4,200 tons of clean coal was shipped from the plant and about 1,000 tons of refuse, approximately 20 percent of the raw coal, was removed as the raw product was processed through the preparation plant. The refuse was transported to a storage bank on Middle Fork by means of 30-ton trucks and most of the refuse was used to make the retaining dams in the area. The preparation plant utilizes a wet-cleaning process to remove refuse from the raw coal fed through the plant. About 500,000 gallons of water a day was needed to operate the plant. This water is replaced or clarified to keep the coal cleaning process working properly. Until 1964, the effluent water was discharged into Buffalo Creek and replaced with clean water; however, because of water pollution regulations, the Buffalo Mining Company began pumping the effluent water from the preparation plant to retaining dam sites on Middle Fork in 1964. The dam sites provided settling areas for the solid materials in the effluent water, and clear water was decanted from the ponds and reused in the plant. The Lorado Coal Mining Company began dumping mine refuse from the cleaning plant in the mouth of Middle Fork valley about 15 years ago. No effort was made to clear vegetation from the areas where the refuse was dumped, and the refuse bank grew in size and configuration as additional refuse was deposited in the valley. The refuse bank extended upstream 1,500 feet and averaged 600 feet in width. A retaining dam was developed from the refuse deposits in 1964, at which time effluent water was first pumped into Middle Fork. In 1967, it was necessary to construct a second retaining dam. In 1970, the third retaining dam was completed, and the middle dam along with the first dam was used for age of clarified water. In the early wet season of 1967, melting [snows] and heavy rains caused all streams in the area to rise, and water flowed over the tops of the unfinished second dam and the first dam and caused some damage in the basement of a home at the mouth of Middle Fork. For many years, heavy rain and snowfalls in the January through March periods have normally resulted in some degree of flooding conditions throughout Southern West Virginia, particularly in the Buffalo Creek area. After the dam failure, a profile taken of the upstream end of the upper dam indicates the depth of the water to have reached a height of 44 feet at the dam. The amount of water estimated to have been impounded behind the upper dam was calculated to be approximately 130,000,000 gallons. The watershed feeding into the impoundment was estimated to be 700 acres. The amount of refuse material washed out of the upper, middle and lower dams, and from the burning refuse bank was estimated to be about 1,000,000 tons. Story of the Retaining Dam Failure The water impounded by the upper dam continued to rise on Thursday, February 24, and Vice President Dasovich and Jack Kent, superintendent of the company's stripping operations, traveled to and examined the upper dam. At 4 p.m., Thursday, February 24, Kent observed that the water was about 5 feet below the crest of the compacted portion of the dam. Kent placed a measuring stick 3 feet 9 inches in length at the lowest side of the dam to measure the rise of the water. About 4 p.m., Friday, February 25, Kent returned to the dam and found that the water level had risen between 1 and 1½ feet according to the markings on the measuring stick. During the late afternoon of February 25, heavy rains began to fall and such rain continued during most of the night. Kent thereafter visited the dam at 2-hour intervals and noted that the water was rising an inch per hour until 3:30 a.m., Saturday, February 26, at which time he observed that the water was rising 2 inches per hour. Kent asked Dasovich to come to the dam, and an examination was made about 6 a.m., February 26. During this examination, Kent observed that the rising water had covered the measuring stick and was about 1 foot below the compacted portion of the dam. Many other company employees discussed in detail their visits to andlor by the dams on Friday and Saturday, February 25 and 26. Other persons visiting the dams judged the impounded water behind the upper dam to be from 6 to 10 feet below the top on Friday evening and Saturday morning. The judgments were made from cursory examinations or from walking on the dam. These men did not use Kent's measuring stick or similar means to make their determinations. Apparently no person or persons actually saw the initial failure of the upper dam. Persons in three general locations discussed in detail events subsequent to the failure. Various persons described their impressions of the explosion or explosions that occurred when the water reached the burning refuse bank. It was apparent that large amounts of material had been released from the refuse bank, and soot and fine dust covered the immediate area, showing clearly that explosion forces had been released. Summary
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