22 January 2007
Supreme Court Turns Down Minot Derailment Case
Fargo North Dakota USA - The U.S. Supreme Court has
turned down a request to hear arguments over jurisdiction in a case stemming from a 2002 derailment and chemical spill on the edge of
Minot.
The Supreme Court listed the case Monday among dozens that were denied a hearing during its coming term. Area residents have sued the
Canadian Pacific Railway over the 18 Jan 2002, derailment that released a deadly cloud of anhydrous ammonia.
"What's important is what it does not stand for," Mike Miller, a Fargo attorney for the Minot residents, said of Monday's
Supreme Court decision not to hear the jurisdiction arguments. "It does not stand for the proposition that no one can bring a
lawsuit against the railroad for the train derailment."
That issue, known as pre-emption, is pending in a federal appeals court. Federal Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck ruled
earlier that the railroad is protected from lawsuits.
Arguments over the pre-emption issue have not yet been scheduled by the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals, Miller said Monday.
Miller said his clients "aren't at all afraid," to have their cases heard in federal court.
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