U.S. Is Ready to Pay Teton Dam Victims

WASHINGTON, July. 13—The Federal Government prepared today to reimburse flood victims for losses caused when the Teton Dam collapsed in Idaho last month.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the dam, said the bureau would begin receiving claims on damaged houses, crops, herds, and businesses tomorrow morning, make its inspections and decisions as quickly as possible, and start disbursing funds within a week.

The bureau, which is part of the department of the Interior, got $200 million for damage payments when President Ford signed a $9.7 billion public works bill yesterday, A bureau spokesman said the President had indicated that he would ask for additional funds if they were needed later.

“The Federal Government is assuming the responsibility without assuming the liability” for the disaster, the spokesman said. From $500 million to $1 billion worth of damage was done when the earthen dam broke on June 5.

The project was nearly completed and was filling for the first time when a section crumbled. The torrent that burst through destroyed more of the dam and flooded the upper Snake River valley, leaving 11 dead and 40,000 homeless.

Construction of the dam had been opposed by environmentalists who had contended that it would interfere with a Wild River area and disturb deer and fowl.

They also contended that it would be built in a fault zone, with a geologist who had formerly been with the Bureau of Reclamation arguing that it would be unsafe.

Two investigations are currently under way to determine the cause of the collapse. One is being conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation itself, with representatives or the Geological Survey, Tennessee Valley Authority, Army Corps of Engineers, and Soil Conservation Service included in its team.

The other is an outside panel named by the Secretary a the Interior, Thomas S. Kleppe, and Gov. Cecil D. Andrus of Idaho. It is headed by Wallace L. Chadwick of the California Department of Water Resources and includes eight other engineers.

In an initial report submitted early this month, Mr. Chadwick said, “It seems apparent that the failure resulted from piping.”

He described “piping” as a “process by which embankment material is eroded internally and transported by water flowing through some channel” in the earthen dam.

“Piping may be initiated by several detailed causes,” he said in a letter to Secretary Kleppe and Governor Andrus: “Unfortunately, most of the direct evidence appears to have been destroyed by the violence of the failure itself,” Mr. Chadwick wrote.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation said that no decision would be made on whether to rebuild the dam until after both investigations were completed, in about six months. If the dam, which originally cost $60 million, is to be rebuilt, another appropriation from Congress will be needed.

Beyond that, the spokesman said, much will depend on the wishes of the people in the area. Shortly after the disaster, many were opposed to rebuildling, but others maintained that the dam was needed for irrigation.

In addition to the Bureau of Reclamation's operation, the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration has given emergency relief to the area. The Small Business Administration has also made 227 loans worth $4.6 million to rebuild homes and businesses. Much of that will be repaid with funds from the $200 million now available to the bureau.