Buffalo Creek Disaster Book Review

Oyez, oyez, oyez The law comes to life like never before in The Buffalo Creek
Disaster written by Gerald M. Stern. Published by Stern in 1976, his book chronicles
the events preceding and following the buffalo creek flood of 1972; with particular
focus on the legal aspects of this incident. No one could be more qualified to write
on this topic than Stern, this is true because Stern was the lawyer who took on the
case and won.
In the February of 1972, a coal entrapment (dam) had failed due to heavy rains and
improper drainage procedures. The 17 mile valley in West Virginia was slammed by
a wall of water. The resulting flood unleashed approximately 132,000,000 gallons of
black water. Out of a population of 5,000 people, 125 were killed, 1,121 were
injured, and over 4,000 were left homeless. This was the most devastating coal
mining disaster in history. When thinking of a coal mining disaster, you imagine
burly men trapped in mines. This time it was the miners wives and children fleeing
for their lives.
At the time of the disaster, Stern paid little attention to it. He had just finished
representing African Americans in the south that were being deprived of voting
rights. In the wake of the disaster, the survivors got together and decided they
wanted justice. The looked for a law firm to help represent them. They decided on
Arnold & Porter. A young Stern approached his superiors and asked to be appointed
to the case.
The Buffalo Mining Company was owned by The Pittston Company. When the time
came to address the disaster, Pittston released a press release calling the flood, an
act of God. This was a huge mistake on their part. The public, outraged, blamed
Pittston for the flood. This strengthened the survivors resolve for justice. Arnold &
Porter began building the case. They decided to sue Pittston instead of The Buffalo
Mining Co.
Pittston rushed to settle with as many victims as they could, offering measly sums
as low as 4000 dollars. Many people who had nothing left after the flood had no
choice but to accept these offers because they couldnt wait for the lawsuit to follow
through, and there was no guarantee that they would even be compensated well or
win the lawsuit.
As Arnold & Porter began to talk to the survivors, they were presented with
countless harrowing stories. Working out of a local gas station, they inventoried
survivors and their tales.When survivors were asked to identify bodies, they couldnt
even tell what color the skin was because it was caked in coal sludge. One example
that really shows the horror of this disaster is that 3 babies were never identified
after this. They now rest in a grave with no name. One survivor recounted his story
to Stern
My wife, she was hanging on the edge of the roof, and she---as I tried to help her
up, she was kind of heavy---she was about five and a half months pregnant and she
was a big-boned-like woman, and well, she wasnt on the real heavy side, but she
was heavy anyway, you know.
And I picked her up or tried to pick her up with my left hand and holding my son in
my right hand. And he was screaming and he knew something was wrong. He was
screaming and carrying on, and as I tried to pick her up, why, I just lost my grip, you
know, just the roof, the gable of the house, the way it was made, and her pulling on
me too and I went back in the water with him in sort of a lurch, you know, and my
wife says, What are we going to do, what are we going to do? And I said, Just hold
on to anything you can find, anything. And by that time the water was so deep and
so much force, why, I was twenty or thirty feet from her.

When I looked back and saw her she said, Take care of my baby. And by that time
I was gone. Thats all I heard. Thats the last time I saw her.
And I carried him down through there and my vision---I couldnt see because of the
black muck and stuff, it was just blurred. Everything was just blurred, but I still had
that boy of mine and we were going under and under and I was trying to hold him
and keep him up and keep myself up at the same time.
We were just thrown from side to side and I was just grabbing onto a center of
somebodys tire that came off a car or something---it was inflated and everything,
and I grabbed the center of it and I held onto it and just where it went thats where I
went. And I was thrown from side to side and crushed---my insides was crushed so
hard that it just seemed like my eyeballs was trying to pop out, and my breath, I just
couldnt get my breath at all.
Somewhere along there I lost that boy of mine.I dont know where.
By that time he had stopped screaming and he had drank so much water and
everything---I dont know what happened to him (pp. 43-44).
Survivors were put into trailers provided by the government. Pittston was still
attempting to settle with survivors. Arnold & Porter already decided to sue Pittston,
but the question remained where to sue. They settled on federal court for many
reasons. The plaintiffs must state the amount of property lost. Pittston kept
questioning the people about these figures. One of Pittstons lawyers was talking to
a gentleman about his property value, asking how much it would have been worth is
he was to sell it in the condition it was in. The man responded I have no idea, for
they wasnt for sale this quote exemplifies the unfairness of this disaster.
The governor of West Virginia created a commission to investigate the flood. The
findings of this report showed that Pittston had shown flagrant disregard for the
people. Arnold & Porter continued to investigate the incident. Pittston attempted to
throw the Buffalo Mining Co. under the bus, so to speak. Claiming it was a separate
division altogether and therefore Pittston couldnt be responsible for its
actions. Later, evidence surfaced that Pittston was in control of The Buffalo Mining
Co. all along, this settled the matter.
Stern listens to another story by a man. The man was swimming through the waters
with his wife trying to find safety. Finally he had to pull her up to a roof, but she
went under and never resurfaced. Nine days later her body was found five miles
downstream. With this new story it became obvious that these people lost more
than just physical things. They were also left with psychic impairment.
The case just evolved. Several psychiatrists mentioned the survivors having
survivor syndrome. There are five categories and all the survivors had some
manifestations. Death imprint, death guilt, physic numbing, impaired human
relationships, and significance. It was explained that all the survivors were
psychically impaired. It was now obvious to Stern that this was the most important
part of their claim.
Pittston wanted to keep a good amount of information on this case a secret from the
public. This was their desire so their public image wouldnt be as affected. The
Judge in the case, Judge Hall, ruled that Pittston was allowed to keep nothing of the
nature hidden. A story that Stern shares ends up with this lesson sometimes that
is all you do in law. You just keep pushing ahead until the other side cracks.
Stern began examining people associated with The Buffalo Mining Company and
Pittston. Through many of these dispositions, it was uncovered that Pittston had
built many such dams recklessly. When Pittston bought the Buffalo Mining Company,
they were able to purchase so cheaply because Buffalo had admitted they could not
afford to keep up with industry safety standards. When Pittston took over it was on
the condition they would bring everything up to regulation. This did not happen.

Stern finally had evidence that Pittston knew about the condition of the dam before
this disaster happened.
Through further disposition evidence came forth in writing that Pittston was
knowingly and continuingly violating the law. Facts of recklessness had been
uncovered and Pittston was forced to reveal these finding to the public. However,
they continued to delay the publishing of these findings as long as they could.
Pittston tried and tried to disprove claims of psychic impairment. They examined
victims and even went as far as to make them travel countless miles to be
examined by Pittston doctors. The psychiatrist they used wasnt even out of school.
These efforts proved fruitless. Pittston changed its tactics; they began to question
how the plaintiffs hired Arnold & Porter instead of local law firms. After harassing
them about this, Judge Hall ordered them to desist. The case was moving along
nicely.
Harassment continued as Arnold & Porter was accused of ambulance chasing.
Debates continued and they proved that they had no such influence on their
hiring. The people gave Stern authorization to negotiate and recommend
settlements on their behalf. Work began on drafting a settlement. The number stern
settled on was 32.5 million dollars.
When Stern was talking to a former Pittston engineer, he learned something
shocking. 20 years prior to the Buffalo Creek flood, a similar incident had
occurred. It was the flood at lick fork. The most significant piece of information to
come from this was that Pittston had prior knowledge of what happens to black
water dams.
Pittston began attacking from a different angle. They attempted to discredit
approximately 30 plaintiffs and have their claims dismissed. The strategy developed
was as follows; the first group targeted was survivors not physically harmed by the
flood. Hypothetically, once this group was dismissed the next group would be just as
easy. If Pittston could play their cards correctly they hoped to do away with all
physic impairment claims against them.
This ploy didnt work, fortunately for Arnold & Porter. The total physical damage for
all the plaintiffs was only a couple of million dollars. Physic impairment was the
most important part of this case and everyone involved knew it. Judge hall
overturned Pittstons motions to dismiss these claims and the case hummed along.
When negations began, Pittston said they would settle for 3 million. This was
insulting to Arnold & Porter. In confidence, they were viewing anything above 10
million as a victory. The debates continued to no avail. However, when Judge Hall
made his decision about the physic impairment, Stern had a new bargaining chip.
With this information in hand, Stern reinforced his 32.5 million figures. Pittston was
nervous and they could tell. Both sides were still very far off on a figure. Stern felt
as though he owed it to the plaintiffs to go to trial. This frightened Pittston even
more.
One thing Pittston was attempting to avoid at all costs was a public trial. This would
have an adverse effect on their public image. Pittston was in the middle of
negations for a contract in Maine and a court case would not help that. This may be
the key factor that led to settlement.
When meeting again with Pittstons legal counsel, Stern was prepared to settle the
case. Both sides had permission to settle and the time had come. Pittston came up
to 10 million, but Stern felt he could get more. He said 20, but Pittston countered
with much lower. Finally the debate ended when they split their differences at 13.5
million dollars.

Stern was disappointed that he didnt get to take the case to trial, but there was no
denying that this was a win for all the plaintiffs. 2 million alone was allocated for
children of the disaster. The majority of the winnings went to the physic impairment
claims. Each person received approximately 13 thousand dollars each after legal
fees.
An additional lawsuit was filed for 348 children who werent represented before.
Going on the same psychic impairment claims, the sought 225 million dollars. In
June 2974, these people settled for 4.8 million dollars.
This had been the most powerful case Gerald Stern had ever worked on. In the
afterword he mentioned how sad he was it was over. He went on to represent the
Scotia widows of a mine collapse in Kentucky. He went into his own law firm, calling
it Stern & Huge.
The overall theme in the book, The Buffalo Creek Disaster, is one of complexity. It is
a painting with several layers composing its art. On the surface it looks like a simple
trial book, to someone who didnt read the book that exactly what it is.
When we begin to scratch the surface, we see the authors live in this book. Gerald
M. Stern felt this was the most rewarding case he ever worked on. The mans
passion is vivid in his descriptions of the events. This is a story of heroism. This is a
story of horror and murder. This is a story about the people who were fortunate
enough to survive with nothing left.
The tapestry that is The Buffalo Creek Disaster is heart wrenching in the hands of
the author. He created the theme and did a wonderful job of it. It is composed of
almost every possible emotion. The theme therefore is insightful emotional law.
When asking what the authors perspective is on crime and correction, it is difficult
to answer in the terms of this specific book. Stern has only written about his large
public cases. The Buffalo Creek Disaster and The Scotia Widows are examples. In
these books, Stern goes up against major corporations. Stern also mentioned his
past in his book, where he defended African Americans against racial intolerance.
This makes it seem as though Stern, as a prosecutor, hasnt gone up against
individuals. This is an illogical assumption considering Stern is a seasoned
prosecutor. From this book we can tell some things about his views on the matter.
Gerald Stern has a strong desire for justice. He gets personal involved in his cases
even though he knows a lawyer shouldnt. This personal interest he has often drives
him harder on the defense. Since he faces large corporations usually, correction is
something harder to guess. He seeks settlements for his cases, not jail time. Stern
wants everyone to be treated the same. His views on crime and correction are very
noble.
This book can be matched with textbooks and other books alike. It was similar to No
Heros, No Villians, in the sense that we witnessed through the prosecutors eyes.
There was much lecture that was relevant to the book. Almost all the material on
the courts related to this book.
We can make several connections between the textbook and the novel. The
chapters on lawyers and the courts read parallel with the book. When reading the
two at once the materials played off each other and helped the understanding of
each other. Overall the outside material was added onto by reading this book. In the
same way the book was added onto by the outside material.
I believed that Stern made a very strong argument in his book. He wrote from his
heart and brought personal stories in to make us feel strongly for his cause. By the
end of his book, I was rooting for Arnold & Pittston to up the settlement. I was
hoping for the trial, much like Stern was. We both wanted to see justice served out
and have people know that someone was responsible.

I agree with Stern on almost everything presented in his book. His opinions on the
legal system and the lessons that he passes on just by writing a book are
fascinating. Stern has gone as far as to shape my opinions on trials and procedural
criminal law. His opinions are clearly defined and hard to dispute.
My concept of the subject matter was little to begin with. I was certainly not an
expert on mining disasters or man-made floods. With a blank slate in my mind,
Stern shaped my opinions and concept of this disaster. I find it hard to believe that
anyone could feel differently about this case. 125 people died and this could have
been avoided. In such a case the bad guy is clearly defined. For our purposes its
the Pittston Company.
Pittston through flagrant disregard for peoples lives cost those people their lives.
The concept of justice is one that we see from start to finish. I was thrilled with the
book. I personally felt as though Pittston should have paid more. However, its
difficult for my mind to think in terms of 1974 USD compared to todays rate.
This book really shows greed in an indirect light. Its a shame to know these lives
could have been saved if Pittston had done something as simple as putting in a
drainage pipe. This kind of greed was everywhere at the time. The tragic part is that
it still exists today.
One of the most beneficial things to come out of this case is the recognition of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. At the time of this case, such a claim was
unheard of, which is why it was so difficult to prove. After 9/11, Buffalo Creek was in
the news because of the origins of PTSD. 30 years prior it helped to define the
psychological impairment people suffer.
This was a fantastic read. Im very happy that I enjoyed the book I chose. The
Buffalo Creek Disaster was a wonderfully pieced together book that I will not soon
forget. It remains a culturally relevant piece of work that has societal implications all
over.