29 January 2006
CPR on Hook for U.S. Derailment
Minot North Dakota - The first week of testimony has wrapped up in lawsuits over a deadly 2002
derailment of a Canadian freight train west of Minot.
The jury trial is underway in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is the U.S. headquarters of Canadian Pacific Railway.
The Calgary-based railway has admitted liability in the case. The jury is to decide damages in three cases involving
plaintiffs Richard and Melissa Allende, Jeanette Klier, and Martha Schulz.
Ward County Sheriff Vern Erck and Minot Police Sgt. Dave Goodman were among the first to testify about their actions after the
derailment sent a thick cloud of anhydrous ammonia over the Mouse River Valley early on the morning of 18 Jan 2002.
Thirty-one of 112 rail cars went off the tracks on the western edge of Minot and five tank cars carrying anhydrous ammonia
ruptured.
"I testified about Deputy Scott Erb, who was on patrol that night and was stuck in the cloud of ammonia in a ditch not far from
the derailment scene. I also told about the atmospheric conditions following the derailment and the tasks we (the sheriff's department)
and other emergency responders tended to that night," Erck said.
Goodman testified he tried three times to go into the anhydrous cloud before he was able to move his family to safety, and said he felt
guilty he was unable to go through the cloud again to rescue others. He said he had to park his car and seek refuge in a convenience
store, where he helped others cover their faces with wet rags and towels.
The three cases being heard are the first stemming from the derailment to actually go to trial. An earlier wave of cases was settled
out of court, including a wrongful-death lawsuit. More than 100 cases are still pending, as well as a
class-action lawsuit.
The derailment left one man dead and hundreds of people injured. Twenty families were forced to flee their homes.
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