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The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man
Directed by Mimi Pickering
B&W, 40 minutes, 1975 
FILM TRANSCRIPT"I didn't see God a drivin' them slate trucks and wearing a hard hulled cap. I did not see that at no time when I visited the dam. I don't believe it was an 'act of God'; it was an act of man!'
Shirley Marcum, a survivor of the Buffalo Creek Flood
On February 26, 1972, a coal waste dam owned by the Pittston Company collapsed at the head of a crowded hollow in southern West Virginia. A wall of sludge, debris, and water tore through the valley below, leaving in its wake 125 dead and 4000 homeless. Interviews with survivors, representatives of union and citizen's groups, and officials of the Pittston Company are juxtaposed with actual footage of the flood and scenes of the ensuing devastation. As reasons for the disaster are sought out and examined, evidence mounts that company officials knew of the hazard in advance of the flood, and that the dam was in violation of state and federal regulations. The Pittston Company, however, continued to deny any wrongdoing, maintaining that the disaster was an 'an act of God'. Eventually Pittston settled a lawsuit with some 600 survivors that set a legal precedent by paying claims for psychic impairment as well as wrongful death and property damages.
"A devastating expose of the collusion between state officials and coal executives...a powerful piece of muckraking on film."
Newsweek
"Outstanding! A very powerful film."
Dr. Parker Marden, Professor of Sociology, St. Lawrence University
"Very accurately reflects the despair and frustration of a community caught in a web of corporate red tape...an excellent instructional vehicle for studies in Sociology, Business, Psychology, and Government." Media Digest
"Made with insiders' sensitivity and dextrous professionalism."
Pat Aufderheide, In These Times
"Spontaneous filming and post flood interviews give the viewer a complete story of the events which led up to and followed the disaster...this film is recommended."
Educational Film Library Association
"Experimenting successfully with blending narration, interviews, documentary footage and folk music into one effort to portray the cause and effect of a man made disaster, the film is admirable for its ability to strike a balance between emotion and analysis. The Buffalo Creek Flood speaks to us on the human level of universal loss and suffering. But it also is a political film that reflects the decades of abuse and frustration experienced by miners and their families."
Andrew Horton, Film Quarterly
"Enormously effective."
Dr. Kai T. Erikson, Professor of Sociology, Yale UniversityFestivals and Screenings
Chicago International Film Festival Silver Plaque
American Film Festival Finalist
National Film Theatre, British Film Institute
Museum of Modern Art
Oklahoma State University Filmathon
American Film Institute, Washington, D.C.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
J.B. Speed Museum, Louisville
Projections of the South: Folklore & Ethnography on Film, University of South Carolina
Manhattan Theatre Club
Chicago Screen Educators Society
West Virginia Film Festival ‘90 - Screening
Kentucky Educational Television
WSWP/Beckley, WV
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