Legal Book Review: The Buffalo Creek Disaster
The Buffalo Creek Disaster was one of the costliest preventable tragedies in the history of American coal-mining. An impoundment dam burst in a coal mining West Virginia town, precipitating a deadly flood that killed or injured more than a thousand people, and left many more residents homeless. The dam had been declared sound shortly before it burst by a federal inspector. The owner of the dam, the Pittston Coal Company initially only offered a very small settlement to the victims. "Over 125 people perished immediately. Most were women and children unable to struggle out from under the thick black water choked with crushed and splintered homes, cars, telephone poles, railroad tracks, and all manner of other debris. There were over 4,000 survivors, but their 1,000 homes were destroyed as well as most of their possessions" (Stern ix-x). Survivors of the incident experienced post-traumatic stress disorder similar to that of Vietnam veterans and victims of abuse. Parents were haunted by images of children floating away from them in the muck and debris; people lost...
Stern, wrote an account chronicling his difficulties in securing justice for the victims in a book entitled The Buffalo Creek Disaster. Stern was faced with seemingly insurmountable odds in the state of West Virginia -- the state was dominated by coal-mining interests at every level of government and the justice system. The Governor's Commission created to investigate the disaster was intentionally created as a powerless entity and the most powerful representatives of the Pittston Company refused to testify. A grand jury refused to indict the company. Most of the state was willing to look the other way, because of the economic power held by the Pittston Coal Company. Eventually, Stern was able to win a sizable out-of-court settlement for the victims, many of whom were poor, illiterate, and had little knowledge of the legal system all or their rights. A white Southerner working pro bono for the cause, Stern identified with his victims on a personal level, based on his…
