Logan County, West Virginia is home to a small area called the Buffalo Creek Hallow. Numerous towns sprang up over years in this coal rich creek since the boom of the mining industry. The year 1970 saw the most prosperous year for coal, the increased demand attracted new mining companies to set up shop at Buffalo Creek however a flood during a cold winter morning in 1972 changed the lives of the residents forever.

The coal mining history of Buffalo Creek can be traced back all the way to 1940s. At that time, Lorado Coal Mining Company opened Mine No.5 at the almost the top of the Buffalo hallow. The dumping of sludge from this mine was happening at the mouth of the middle fork. It functioned just like a dam and was viewed like one without much thought. When the Buffalo Mining Company took over Lorada, they began dumpling sludge behind the first “dam” at the middle fork stream. In 1967, the old dam proved problematic when it failed however there was no considerable damage. The coal mining company did not take the threat seriously as it continued to pile waste. In 1970, when Pittson coal took over, the danger exponentially increased as a third dam was constructed behind the first two which completely blocked the streams by a network of sledge dams.

In the last week of February 1972, ponds/streams behind the first dam started to rise. These ponds had millions of tons of sludgy material at the bottom that acted as quick sand. The rain and snow pounding along with routinely 500,00 gallons water inflow from the Pittson Coal Company cleansing plant lead a to dramatic increase in water levels. Only on February 25th, officials first questioned the stability of the dams. The dams had no drainage system installed or any pressure release mechanisms. Also, although the state had citied the Pittson Coal Company subsequent to the 1st dam failure, there company had taken to