• Corporate Responsibility

  On March 28, 1972, the Pittston Company announced in a press conference and letter to their stockholders that offices would be opened on Buffalo Creek to process claims arising out of losses sustained by residents. The company continued to deny any responsibility for the disaster stating in the press release "we believe that the investigations of the tragedy have not progressed to the point where it is possible to assess responsibility." Residents who took their claims to the office were asked for lengthy documentation -- documentation that most often had been washed away in the flood -- and were asked to sign disclaimers stating that no further claims would be made against the company. The claims officials told residents they would receive the same amount of settlement whether or not they hired a lawyer.

  Meanwhile, Pittston advised stockbrokers in New York to advise their clients that Pittston would continue to be a good investment. These brokers said confidentially that Pittston told them the company was fully insured against disasters such as Buffalo Creek and would suffer no losses. After a number of large claims were filed in U.S. District Court, Pittston filed a statement on March 31 with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating that, "Pittston believes that the ultimate effect of such claims should not be material in relation to its consolidated financial position."

  By April of 1972, over 1000 claims had been registered at the company's temporary offices on Buffalo Creek. Pittston had made one payment -- $4000 to one of its employees whose home was destroyed.

  In May of 1972, a group of Buffalo Creek survivors chartered a bus and traveled to Richmond, VA, to present their complaints about fair restitution to the annual meeting of the Pittston Company stockholders. The group was not allowed to speak to the assembly. In the meeting a resolution was read by one stockholder, the Field Foundation, calling for the company to spend more money for safety of miners and their families. The resolution was passed "in spirit only." An effort to make it binding on management was defeated by a vote of 12 million shares to 1,217 shares.

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