22 March 2007
Railroad Accused of Destroying Documents in 2002 Chemical Spill
Bismarck North Dakota USA - Attorneys for
Minot-area residents suing the Canadian Pacific Railway over a deadly derailment and chemical spill five years ago say the
railroad should lose its federal protection against lawsuits because it intentionally destroyed documents.
The legal brief filed in federal court in Minneapolis, where the railroad has its U.S. headquarters, alleges that Neal Foot, a senior
vice president of the Canadian Pacific, ordered railroad employees "company-wide" to destroy
e-mails, personal notes, drawings, and photographs related to the 18 Jan 2002, disaster.
"There is no question that Defendants acted willfully, in bad faith, and for the express purpose of illegally undermining the
Courts' processes," the court document says.
Railroad spokesman Ed Greenberg declined comment Wednesday, saying the railroad does not comment on pending litigation.
Attorneys for those suing the railroad say an order from U.S. Magistrate Dwight Kautzmann in North Dakota a few weeks after the
derailment required all evidence in the case to be preserved.
"The type of documents destroyed, admissions related to the derailment, are often the most damning documents on the issue of
liability," the attorneys wrote.
The early morning derailment on the west edge of Minot released a cloud of anhydrous ammonia, a toxic farm fertilizer. One man, John
Grabinger, died trying to escape and hundreds of other people were treated for burns and breathing problems. The National
Transportation Safety Board later ruled that inadequate track maintenance and inspections were to blame, a finding the railroad
disputed.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck ruled in March last year that the Federal Railroad Safety Act protects the railroad from
lawsuits. Mike Miller, a Fargo attorney representing more than 1,000 plaintiffs in the derailment, has appealed the ruling to the 8th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said Wednesday that a hearing had not yet been scheduled.
Miller and other plaintiffs' attorneys say the document destruction is grounds for removing the federal protection. They say the
railroad has been telling judges for years that its protection against lawsuits is a "harsh reality" but that the courts are
bound by it.
"Now is the time for the railroad's dose of "harsh reality" - the wages of intentional (document destruction) are
equally severe," their motion says.
A Minnesota state court jury last year awarded four derailment victims nearly $1.86 million for their injuries. The appeals court ruled
three months later that lawsuits filed against the Canadian Pacific in the Minnesota state court should be handled in federal court.
A number of plaintiffs have reached out-of-court settlements with the railroad, though the details have been kept
confidential. Miller said attorneys continue to talk with the railroad about settlements, but added "I haven't settled any cases
recently."
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