Both towns suffered a catastrophic disaster when a dam broke. Buffalo Creek was far worse than Lake Delhi.

Todd Miler the lawyer I share office space with pointed out to me the Buffalo Creek disaster as we discussed the Lake Delhi dam failure. He studied it while at the University of Northern Iowa while completing his undergraduate work.

The Buffalo Creek Flood was a disaster that occurred on February 26, 1972, when the Pittston Coal Company's coal slurry impoundment dam #3, located on a hillside in Logan County, West Virginia, burst four days after having been declared 'satisfactory' by a federal mine inspector.

Disastrous Dam Failures Due in Part to Lack of Maintenance or Poor Construction

The resulting release of water and coal sludge unleashed approximately 132 million gallons of black waste water, cresting over 30 ft high, upon the residents of 16 coal mining hamlets in Buffalo Creek Hollow. Out of a population of 5,000 people, 125 were killed, 1,121 were injured, and over 4,000 were left homeless. 507 houses were destroyed, in addition to forty-four mobile homes and 30 businesses. The disaster also destroyed or damaged homes in several downstream communities including Lundale, Saunders, Amherstdale, Crites, Latrobe and Larado. In its legal filings, Pittston Coal referred to the accident as "an Act of God." Sort of like I’m sure we are going to hear in regards to Delhi.

In the Buffalo Creek matter, dam #3, constructed of coarse mining refuse dumped into the Middle Fork of Buffalo Creek starting in 1968, failed first, following heavy rains. The water from Dam #3 then overwhelmed Dams #2 and #1. Dam #3 had been built on top of coal slurry sediment that had collected behind dams # 1 and #2, instead of on solid bedrock. Dam #3 was approximately 260 feet above the town of Saunders when it failed.

So just as Lake Delhi’s dam broke and let all hell break loose on whatever and whoever was below it, so too did the coal slurry in Buffalo Creek. The losses suffered by those in Delhi, can’t be compared to those suffered by Buffalo Creek, but the issue is essentially the same. It all has to do with planning, preparation and maintenance or the lack thereof. And that’s not the end of the woes in Iowa, because the DNR opined the Shell Rock River Dam is also failing. Water is undercutting that structure and it’s predicted to fail. The Shell Rock Dam is a 7 feet wide dam built in 1872 to power a grist mill on the Shell Rock River. KCCI reported the dam is owned partially by the public and partly privately. It was last repaired in 2004. Photo of the Shell Rock Dam. The Shell Rock River flows from Albert Lea Lake in Freeborn County, Minnesota and into Iowa. Its 102 miles long in southern Minnesota and in northern Iowa. It’s a part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. Photo #2.

http://mapq.st/h/3-w0y79EmS

HOW COMMON ARE DAM FAILURES?

There have been more dam failures than I expected to find. There was the Teton Dam that failed on June 5, 1976. Dams have been failing since as far back as 1864 with the Dale Dike Reservoir in South Yorkshire, England. Here is a list of failed dams from around the world.

List of dam failures

Below is the Teton Dam failure.

Did you know, Hirakud Dam is built across the Mahanadi River, about 15 km from Sambalpur in the state of Orissa in India. Built in 1957, the dam is one of the world's longest earthen dam. Behind the dam extends a lake, Hirakud Reservoir, 55 km long. Hirakud Dam is one of the longest dams in the world, about 16 mi (26 km) in length.