By Tom Kirvan
Bill Booth was 35 at the time, just 10 years into his legal career as one of top attorneys at Plunkett Cooney, a firm that traces its roots to the Dime Building in downtown Detroit.
It was December 11, 1971, a day that would be etched in Michigan history as the date of one of the deadliest industrial tragedies the state has ever experienced.
"My wife (Ann) and I had just moved into our new home and we were there unpacking boxes when I got a call from work to grab my coat and to get up to Port Huron as quickly as possible," Booth recalled. "I was told that there had been a terrible explosion."
Shortly after arriving on the Port Huron scene, Booth came to grips with the scope of what would become known as the "Lake Huron Water Tunnel Explosion," an accident that in the matter of seconds claimed the lives of 22 union tradesmen.
"It was a scene that just defied description," said Booth, now 50 years removed from the horror of it all. "What I saw, in terms of the loss of life and the injuries suffered, was beyond words. It's something that I'll never forget."
Even if he has tried mightily to forget.
A Saginaw native, Booth was there representing one of the firm's top clients, a major insurance company that was tied to several of the construction businesses involved in the tunnel project.
What happened and how it happened would be the subjects of nearly 10 years of litigation in both state and federal courts, according to Booth.
"I was involved in a particularly brutal trial that lasted 13 weeks before Judge James Ryan in Wayne County Circuit Court," Booth recalled of the case in which the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs. "He was a great judge and ran a really tight ship, and made sure that justice was served."
A lengthy investigation into the cause of the accident uncovered a series of seemingly unrelated events that had deadly consequences. That story is told on the face of a historical marker erected at Fort Gratiot County Park in 2011, some 40 years after the tragedy took place.
"On December 11, 1971, a shotgun-like blast claimed the lives of twenty-two men working on a water intake tunnel beneath the bed of Lake Huron," the marker reads. "A pocket of methane trapped within a layer of ancient Antrim shale fueled the explosion. An exhaustive inquiry determined that drilling for a vertical ventilation shaft from the lake's surface had released the trapped gas. The blast created a shock wave with a speed of 4,000 miles an hour and a force of 15,000 pounds per square inch. Witnesses reported seeing debris fly two hundred feet in the air from the tunnel's entrance. This tragedy resulted in stronger mining safety regulations and enforcement."
Nearly three months ago, the 50-year anniversary of the tragedy was observed in a ceremony at the memorial marker near the site of the explosion. If Bill Booth had been in better health, instead of recuperating from a serious heart episode he suffered last fall, he likely would have been on hand for the solemn occasion.
He is that kind of man, the type whose reputation for honesty and integrity is perhaps only surpassed by his legal smarts and an innate desire to do good.
In 2011, Booth was the recipient of the prestigious "Professionalism Award" from the Oakland County Bar Association. It was just one of many coveted honors that Booth has earned over his impeccable legal career, but this one had extra meaning for the University of Michigan alum who received his law degree from the University of Detroit.
The Oakland Bar, in presenting the award to Booth, was effusive in its praise of his character and legal achievements, terming him a "lawyer's lawyer," one of the highest compliments that can be paid to an attorney.
"He is a hard-working, no-nonsense, bottom-line litigator who has exemplified the highest form of professionalism and diligence in his service to clients and the system of jurisprudence in the state of Michigan," according to the OCBA award statement. "Mr. Booth exemplifies the highest standards of professional competence; strong moral character; and respect for litigants, opposing counsel, and the justice system in Oakland County. He has given of his time, talent, and treasure throughout his legal career. At his firm he has been a mentor, role model, and friend to both new and seasoned lawyers."
That summary, in and of itself, pretty much says it all about the former managing partner of Plunkett Cooney. But not quite.
Attorney Mike Sullivan, a past president of the OCBA, is a longtime friend and neighbor of Booth, and is one of his most ardent admirers.
"Bill truly is a legal legend," said Sullivan, a former managing partner at Collins Einhorn. "He remains true to and proud of his Saginaw roots, and is equally proud of his time at U-M, and U of D School of Law. As one might expect, he still has great stories from those days and his time in legal and other circles. Bill has truly made friends everywhere his career and family have taken him. Bill did all of this while also serving as a loyal and devoted husband, father, grandfather, neighbor, and friend."
