00:00:05
[sirens blaring]
00:00:06
BILL DYER: I felt like I was in
a war zone with the explosions,
00:00:10
the smell of smoke, the
smell of burning flesh,
00:00:13
people screaming.
00:00:14
PETER THOMAS: It was the
single most deadly automobile
00:00:17
accident in American history.
00:00:20
99 vehicles, most
of them destroyed.
00:00:24
12 people died.
00:00:26
REPORTER: Identifiable?
00:00:27
No.
00:00:29
Not at all.
00:00:31
PETER THOMAS: More
than 50 were injured.
00:00:35
MIKE CURTIS: Total destruction.
00:00:37
If I hadn't been there
and eye witnessed it,
00:00:40
I don't believe I
could have believed.
00:00:43
PETER THOMAS: The
accident happened
00:00:44
along a three-mile
stretch of highway long
00:00:47
known for dense, thick fog.
00:00:50
But what was causing the fog?
00:00:53
The victims and their
families wanted answers.
00:00:58
[theme music]
00:01:24
[music playing]
00:01:25
PETER THOMAS: The accident
occurred on Interstate 75
00:01:27
in Tennessee on a portion of
highway between Chattanooga
00:01:30
and Knoxville.
00:01:33
The highway was constructed
through a valley
00:01:35
which lies between
the Cumberland
00:01:37
and Great Smoky Mountains.
00:01:39
From the time the highway
first opened back in 1973,
00:01:43
there had been numerous
multi-vehicle chain
00:01:45
reaction accidents in the
same three-mile section.
00:01:49
The first occurred
just four months
00:01:51
after the highway opened.
00:01:53
Three people died
in a 17 car pileup.
00:01:57
10 were injured.
00:01:59
Just one month later, there
was a nine car accident.
00:02:03
Although there were no
deaths, nine were injured.
00:02:07
During the first six years
the highway was open,
00:02:10
there was an average of one
multi-car accident each year.
00:02:14
One of the largest was
in November of 1978,
00:02:17
involving more than 60 vehicles.
00:02:20
Six people were killed,
nearly 100 injured.
00:02:24
All of the accidents had
one thing in common--
00:02:28
the sudden appearance of a
dense, thick fog reducing
00:02:32
visibility to near zero.
00:02:34
Tennessee State
Highway officials
00:02:36
responded by installing fog
warning lights to warn drivers
00:02:39
when fog was in the area.
00:02:41
Highway patrol
officers were posted
00:02:43
to stand watch every morning
along the fog prone area
00:02:46
to make sure drivers
slowed down when the fog
00:02:49
warning lights were activated.
00:02:51
The combination of these
two systems worked.
00:02:55
For 11 years, there were no
major accidents along the fog
00:02:58
prone stretch of Interstate 75.
00:03:02
But all of that changed
on December 11, 1990.
00:03:06
[sirens blaring]
00:03:07
WOMAN: It's a massive wreck.
00:03:08
Everybody's bumping
into everybody.
00:03:12
OPERATOR: I've had
several reports.
00:03:13
I've had an explosion
in that area,
00:03:14
and they're still piling up.
00:03:16
BILL DYER: As I rolled
down the window,
00:03:17
I could hear the cars just
crashing into each, other one
00:03:20
after another.
00:03:21
MIKE CURTIS: A motor home
hit the front end of my truck
00:03:24
after just seconds,
after I had gotten out.
00:03:27
And a vehicle started
hitting the back of it.
00:03:30
I'll never forget hearing
one, and he hit other cars
00:03:33
and just knocked them out of
the way like they were nothing
00:03:35
and came-- crashed just to
the right of that motor home.
00:03:39
The explosion was such that
it almost knocked me down.
00:03:43
PETER THOMAS: Mike Curtis
pulled this 14-year-old boy
00:03:46
out of the motor home then
rescued the boy's mother.
00:03:51
MIKE CURTIS: And I turned and
went back to get her husband.
00:03:54
All I could see was fire.
00:03:55
I could smell hair burning.
00:03:58
His coat came off,
burning in my hands.
00:04:00
[solemn music]
00:04:08
It was probably the hardest
thing I've ever had to witness.
00:04:13
The most helpless
feeling I've ever had.
00:04:18
PETER THOMAS: The
man burned to death.
00:04:21
12 people were killed,
56 others injured,
00:04:25
making it the largest vehicular
accident in American history.
00:04:31
These pictures
were taken shortly
00:04:33
after the accident, when most
of the fog had dissipated.
00:04:37
MIKE CURTIS: The
vehicles that I saw,
00:04:39
I don't even know if you would
classify them as vehicles.
00:04:41
What normally was a pickup
truck was three foot
00:04:44
in length, bodies still in it.
00:04:46
PETER THOMAS: After 11 years
without a serious accident,
00:04:50
the killer fog had struck again.
00:04:53
But why?
00:04:55
The families of the dead and
injured demanded answers.
00:05:00
They wanted to know what
caused the dense, thick fog
00:05:05
on December 11, 1990.
00:05:12
[music playing]
00:05:15
PETER THOMAS: On
December 11, 1990,
00:05:18
30-year-old Craig Piper was
driving his tractor trailer
00:05:21
south on Interstate
75, on his way to visit
00:05:25
his mother for the holidays.
00:05:37
When he entered the thick, dense
fog, visibility was near zero.
00:05:46
Within seconds, he crashed.
00:05:48
[boom]
00:05:49
[tires screeching]
00:05:50
[glass shattering]
00:05:53
[sirens blaring]
00:05:55
The flames were
extremely intense,
00:05:57
and I knew there wasn't any
way I could get him out.
00:05:59
And I had to stand
there and watch
00:06:00
this man burn in his vehicle.
00:06:02
There wasn't really
anything I could do.
00:06:04
Flames were too big.
00:06:05
I didn't have a
fire extinguisher.
00:06:06
I just had to stand there and
watch this man burn alive.
00:06:10
PETER THOMAS: Craig Piper's
mother wanted answers and hired
00:06:14
attorney Doug Fees, who
was not only a lawyer,
00:06:17
but also an engineer.
00:06:19
She wanted Fees to
find out what caused
00:06:21
the terrible fog that was
responsible for her son's
00:06:25
death.
00:06:26
She said the two people
in that car were killed
00:06:29
and that her son had been burned
alive in this tractor trailer
00:06:34
and was wondering if
there was anything
00:06:36
that I could do to help her.
00:06:39
PETER THOMAS: The accident
occurred along Interstate 75
00:06:42
at its lowest point
in the valley,
00:06:43
about a half-mile from
where the interstate
00:06:45
crosses the Hiwassee River.
00:06:48
Because of its
location, fog has always
00:06:50
been common in this area.
00:06:53
Fog is basically a cloud
which forms on the ground.
00:06:57
Fog occurs when there is
too much water in the air
00:07:00
for the atmosphere to absorb.
00:07:02
Since cooler air
holds less moisture
00:07:04
than warm air and cool air
gathers in low lying areas,
00:07:09
the valley through which
Interstate 75 passes
00:07:12
is perfect for the
formation of natural fog.
00:07:17
But the fog described
by the accident victims
00:07:20
was extremely thick and dense.
00:07:23
Was the fog on the
day of the accident
00:07:25
naturally produced or was
it caused by one or more
00:07:30
of the local industries nearby?
00:07:33
WAYNE T. DAVIS: On
those three days,
00:07:35
there was some
amount of river fog,
00:07:37
although it was
relatively small.
00:07:40
On all three days,
there was a very
00:07:42
noticeable emission of
fog-related water vapor
00:07:49
from the Bowater facility.
00:07:51
PETER THOMAS: The
Bowater Paper Company
00:07:52
is located three miles to the
east of the interstate highway.
00:07:56
It is the largest producer
of newsprint in North America
00:08:00
and releases large quantities of
water vapor into the atmosphere
00:08:04
24 hours a day as part of
the manufacturing process.
00:08:09
Wayne Davis recommended
that the state of Tennessee
00:08:11
conduct a more
detailed study in order
00:08:13
to understand the cause
of the fogging conditions.
00:08:17
The state decided not to
fund a more detailed study,
00:08:20
but elected to
install a fog warning
00:08:22
system along the highway
and posted state troopers
00:08:25
to patrol the fog prone
stretch of highway
00:08:27
each and every morning.
00:08:29
For 11 years, the system worked.
00:08:32
Between 1979 and
1990, there were
00:08:35
no serious
multi-vehicle accidents
00:08:37
along the three-mile
stretch of Interstate 75.
00:08:41
The system worked--
until December 11, 1990.
00:08:46
[dramatic music]
00:08:49
The Wayne Davis study was
an important starting point
00:08:51
for Doug Fees, but
the Davis study
00:08:54
was conducted 12 years earlier.
00:08:57
Fees needed to know what caused
the fog on December 11, 1990.
00:09:03
Doug Fees heard
about a scientist
00:09:05
who was using computers
to track weather
00:09:08
conditions and pollutants.
00:09:11
Was it possible
that science could
00:09:13
recreate the weather condition
on the day of the accident?
00:09:21
[solemn music]
00:09:22
PETER THOMAS: Attorney
Doug Fees wanted
00:09:24
to know if the thick, dense fog
on the morning of the accident
00:09:27
had been produced naturally
or was caused by one or more
00:09:30
of the local industries or
some combination of both.
00:09:35
To find out, he hired
Dr. Alan Eschenroeder
00:09:38
who teaches civil engineering
at Harvard University.
00:09:41
His area of expertise
is risk management,
00:09:44
and he also runs a consulting
firm which specializes
00:09:48
in air quality modeling.
00:09:49
Eschenroeder gathered
weather information
00:09:52
about the morning
of the accident
00:09:53
from Knoxville and
Chattanooga airports,
00:09:56
as well as from two
nuclear power plants,
00:09:58
one only 18 miles
from the scene.
00:10:01
Weather records indicated that
there were few, if any, clouds
00:10:05
on the morning of the accident.
00:10:07
Winds were light.
00:10:09
And the temperature
dropped rapidly the night
00:10:11
before from a high of 60
degrees in the afternoon
00:10:15
to almost freezing.
00:10:17
This 30 degree
drop in temperature
00:10:20
could cause a weather
phenomenon called an inversion.
00:10:24
An inversion occurs when the
temperature on the ground
00:10:28
is cooler than the
temperature in the atmosphere.
00:10:31
This prevents air and
moisture from dissipating
00:10:34
into the atmosphere,
pushing the moisture
00:10:37
back towards the ground.
00:10:39
Very early on the morning of
the accident, a helicopter pilot
00:10:42
flying over Interstate 75
noticed a mushroom-shaped cloud
00:10:47
similar to this one
over the Bowater paper
00:10:49
mill smokestacks three miles
east of the accident site.
00:10:54
Eschenroeder believes this
was visual confirmation
00:10:57
of the inversion.
00:10:59
Water vapor is
produced naturally,
00:11:01
coming from evaporation
from lakes, streams,
00:11:04
rivers, and ground moisture.
00:11:06
Dr. Eschenroeder calculated
that the evaporation rate
00:11:10
of the natural bodies
of water in the area
00:11:12
was only 392 gallons per day.
00:11:15
This was barely enough to
create even a light fog,
00:11:18
let alone the dense, thick fog
described by accident victims
00:11:22
and rescue personnel.
00:11:24
Eschenroeder was
convinced-- there
00:11:26
had to be another
source of water vapor
00:11:30
which caused the thick fog.
00:11:32
He noticed a series
of ponds which
00:11:34
straddled the interstate
highway on two sides.
00:11:38
These were wastewater
treatment ponds which belong
00:11:41
to the Bowater Paper Plant.
00:11:44
These ponds were used to clean
the industrial wastewater
00:11:47
from the paper mill.
00:11:48
In two of the ponds,
aerator fans would propel
00:11:52
the water up into the air.
00:11:54
Most of the water dropped
back into the ponds.
00:11:57
Some of it did not.
00:11:58
ALAN ESCHENROEDER: And
that's called drift.
00:12:00
The drift droplets are things
that drift away from the site
00:12:03
of where they are formed.
00:12:05
All the other droplets
fall back to Earth
00:12:07
or fall back to the pond
where they originate.
00:12:09
So we had to do some
original calculations
00:12:13
in an engineering
estimate fashion
00:12:15
for emission of those droplets.
00:12:17
PETER THOMAS:
Eschenroeder calculated
00:12:19
that these wastewater treatment
ponds added 10 million gallons
00:12:23
of water vapor into the
atmosphere in the 24
00:12:26
hours preceding the accident,
far more than the 392 gallons
00:12:32
from the natural
bodies of water.
00:12:34
At the paper plant itself, an
additional 1.5 million gallons
00:12:39
of water vapor
was being released
00:12:41
each day from the smokestacks.
00:12:44
But it wasn't just water
vapor that was being released
00:12:47
from these smokestacks.
00:12:49
Paper plants released
what are called
00:12:51
particulates, as waste from
the paper production process.
00:12:55
Particulates are
microscopic particles
00:12:58
which become surfaces on which
water vapor can condense.
00:13:02
And this leads to fog.
00:13:04
You not only had the fog
potential from the presence
00:13:07
of the water vapor, but
you had a place for it
00:13:09
to form in the surfaces
of these microparticles,
00:13:13
these condensation nuclei.
00:13:14
PETER THOMAS: But how
could Eschenroeder
00:13:16
tell if the water vapor
from the Bowater Paper Plant
00:13:19
three miles away caused the
fog on the interstate highway
00:13:24
on the day of the accident?
00:13:26
He found part of the answer
on this aerial videotape
00:13:30
shot by a local videographer a
few hours after the accident.
00:13:34
Eschenroeder recognized
the wind pattern
00:13:37
as a drainage flow, which
carries cooler air down
00:13:41
into the valley.
00:13:43
But Eschenroeder needed
to know in which direction
00:13:45
the drainage flow was heading.
00:13:47
To do that, he needed to
know the exact position
00:13:51
of the airplane.
00:13:52
Using navigational charts,
calculating the position
00:13:56
of the sun from the glint
angle off the wing and ground
00:13:59
references, he identified
the plane's position relative
00:14:03
to the paper mill and
the accident site.
00:14:05
The videotape
convinced Eschenroeder
00:14:08
that the drainage flow
wind pattern was headed
00:14:11
west from the location
of the paper mill
00:14:14
towards the accident site.
00:14:16
ALAN ESCHENROEDER: As to
the cause of that accident
00:14:18
that day, there's no doubt in
my mind that the industrial fog
00:14:22
created by water emissions
from that Bowater paper mill
00:14:26
was a major factor--
00:14:28
the major factor,
preponderant major factor--
00:14:30
in forming the fog that
caused the accident.
00:14:34
PETER THOMAS: Attorney Doug
Fees now had scientific evidence
00:14:38
and proceeded with the
civil suit he filed
00:14:40
earlier against the
Bowater Paper Company
00:14:44
and the state of Tennessee.
00:14:50
[music playing]
00:14:51
PETER THOMAS: As Mike Curtis
drove onto Interstate 75
00:14:54
on the morning of the accident,
the sun was so strong he
00:14:58
took his jacket off in the car.
00:15:00
When Curtis approached
the fog zone,
00:15:02
the fog warning lights in
one direction weren't working
00:15:05
and those in the
other direction had
00:15:07
been blinking continuously for
three days and were ignored.
00:15:12
The daily police fog patrols had
been abandoned years earlier.
00:15:17
Once in the thick fog,
visibility was near zero.
00:15:22
Mike Curtis never
saw what he hit.
00:15:26
Curtis heard crashes,
people crying
00:15:28
for help, the explosions.
00:15:30
I knelt down and asked God
to help me to get through it.
00:15:36
PETER THOMAS: He helped a young
boy caught inside a motor home.
00:15:39
MIKE CURTIS: A 12 or
13-year-old boy, so I got out.
00:15:42
His mother was inside screaming,
and the adrenaline was pumping.
00:15:46
And I ripped the window
out and got her out.
00:15:50
PETER THOMAS: After saving
the boy and his mother,
00:15:52
Curtis tried to save the
father, but he burned to death.
00:15:57
There was also
tragedy for a woman
00:15:59
driving with her granddaughter.
00:16:03
This is all that
was left of the car.
00:16:05
OFFICER: This car was
smashed completely flat
00:16:07
like an accordion.
00:16:08
TOM L GRAHAM: The
car was compacted
00:16:09
down to something in the
neighborhood of 30 inches long.
00:16:12
By some miracle,
this little girl
00:16:14
lived through the entire thing.
00:16:15
PETER THOMAS: The
grandmother died.
00:16:18
Randall McKeehan
and his two children
00:16:20
also suffered a loss that day.
00:16:23
They lost a wife and mother
when Judith McKeehan burned
00:16:26
to death in the accident.
00:16:28
RANDALL MCKEEHAN:
There wasn't no body.
00:16:30
She was over 90% gone.
00:16:33
It was like she'd been cremated.
00:16:38
And there wasn't
nothing to view.
00:16:41
She still had remains,
ashes, which I'm not saying
00:16:47
could be identified.
00:16:48
But still knowing that
she died in that vehicle,
00:16:55
I did the best I could to get
everything, all the ashes out,
00:17:03
and I spread them across
that field right out there.
00:17:06
[crying]
00:17:09
And I just--
00:17:17
I guess that was the
only thing I knew to do.
00:17:25
PETER THOMAS: Doug
Fees' case was
00:17:26
set for trial in 1994, more than
three years after the accident.
00:17:32
Bowater disagreed with the
scientific calculations
00:17:35
used in the Eschenroeder
study and hired
00:17:37
its own scientific expert.
00:17:39
Dr. George McVehil is a
meteorologist from Denver.
00:17:43
His study concluded
that Bowater's
00:17:45
contribution to the fog
on the day of the accident
00:17:48
was less than 1%.
00:17:51
GEORGE E. MCVEHIL:
Our conclusion
00:17:52
was that the fog formed by a
natural process due to mixing
00:17:57
of moist air at different
altitudes at about 9 o'clock
00:18:02
on the morning of December
11, after the sun had
00:18:04
come up and heated
the ground enough
00:18:07
to start the mixing process.
00:18:10
And that, in a very abbreviated
and simplified form,
00:18:13
is what caused the
fog on that morning.
00:18:15
PETER THOMAS: But
shortly before the trial,
00:18:17
the courts ordered Bowater to
release a study it commissioned
00:18:21
in 1979 from its own
consulting firm, Environmental
00:18:26
Research and Technology.
00:18:29
In it, ERT states that
"preliminary evidence suggests
00:18:34
that Bowater
operations contribute
00:18:37
to local vapor flux and fogging
problems in the Calhoun area."
00:18:43
Doug Fees never got the chance
to prove his case in court.
00:18:48
Before the trial, the
state of Tennessee
00:18:50
reached an out-of-court
settlement with Fees on behalf
00:18:53
of the families he represented.
00:18:56
Because of the malfunctioning
fog warning system,
00:18:59
the state settled
for $800,000 and also
00:19:03
agreed to install a $4
million computerized fog
00:19:06
detection system.
00:19:08
When the fog reaches
a certain density,
00:19:11
large signs automatically notify
drivers of fog in the area
00:19:16
and sensors trigger gates
on key entrance ramps,
00:19:19
closing access to the highway.
00:19:22
Bowater also
settled out of court
00:19:24
with 30 victims and
families represented
00:19:27
by Doug Fees and other
attorneys for $11 million.
00:19:31
Bowater continues to
maintain that the paper
00:19:34
mill and treatment ponds had
nothing to do with the fog
00:19:38
on the day of the accident.
00:19:40
However, Bowater
agreed to limit its use
00:19:43
of treatment Pond Number four,
which sits near the highway.
00:19:48
AH BARASH: But the issue
isn't whether or not
00:19:51
Pond 4 is a contributor to
fog, whether natural water
00:19:55
conditions that are
in the community
00:19:57
are contributors to fog.
00:19:59
The real point is that fog
exists in that particular place
00:20:04
from time to time.
00:20:06
It's natural fog, and
the traffic control
00:20:09
mechanisms on the
highway have to be
00:20:11
sufficient to warn motorists.
00:20:14
PETER THOMAS: Despite
the settlement
00:20:16
and the new fog warning
system, many still
00:20:19
believe the highway is unsafe.
00:20:23
Warnings are never the
answer when you can do better.
00:20:26
Closure of Pond 4 is not
enough to solve the problem.
00:20:30
[solemn music]
00:20:34
The chance of this
happening again
00:20:38
has been substantially
reduced, but the risk
00:20:42
has not been eliminated, nor
has the hazard been eliminated.
00:20:47
This is only the third
time I've been here.
00:20:50
It's-- and any officer
would tell you that,
00:20:54
you know, this is a--
00:20:55
to me, it's a memorial site.
00:20:57
That bridge is a memorial
because a lot of people
00:20:59
died here, needlessly.
00:21:03
[music playing]
