Hundreds of coal-waste dams, scattered across Appalachia and often poorly regulated, could bring a new disaster like the one at Buffalo Creek in 1972 that killed 125 people and left 4,000 homeless.

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Forty years ago Sunday morning, a trio of coal-waste dams at a Pittston Coal operation on Buffalo Creek in Logan County collapsed. A wall of sludge, water, and debris stormed down the hollow from Saunders to Man.

By the time the Feb. 26, 1972, flood was over, 125 people had been killed. Another 1,100 were injured, and about 4,000 were left homeless.

A citizens' commission report called Buffalo Creek 'a man-made disaster.' A governor's task force concluded, 'It was, in the truest sense, the most destructive flood in West Virginia history.'

Today, hundreds of coal-waste dams still loom over Appalachian communities. Coalfield residents often worry it could all happen again."

Ken Ward Jr. reports for the Charleston Gazette February 21, 2012. [2]