2 July 2007
Negotiations Wrapping Up in CP Derailment Settlement
Bismarck North Dakota USA - Victims of a derailment and
chemical spill on the edge of Minot five years ago should know in a matter of weeks how much money they will receive from the Canadian
Pacific Railway. Attorneys say thousands could get some kind of settlement.
For people like Claudia and Boyd Roberts, the day will be a relief.
"We'd like some closure," said Boyd Roberts. "My wife just got out of (the hospital). They took part of her lung out
because of cancer. She's a nonsmoker. We attribute it to (the derailment)."
Law firms in Fargo and Minneapolis in early May said they had reached agreement with the railroad to settle the majority of cases that
arose from the 18 Jan 2002, wreck, after years of legal wrangling.
Canadian Pacific has declined to comment on settlement negotiations, other than to say the railroad is pleased to be able to settle a
large number of claims.
The derailment sent a deadly cloud of anhydrous ammonia, a farm fertilizer, over Minot.
One man died trying to escape the fumes and hundreds of people went to the hospital. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled
that inadequate track maintenance and inspections were to blame for the wreck, a finding the railroad disputed.
Fargo attorney Mike Miller said lawyers have been negotiating the final details of the settlements for about 1,000 individual clients.
The goal, he said, is to get information on final settlements to clients next week.
The settlement amounts, which will vary depending on individual circumstances, will not be released, Miller said. The terms of a
separate class action settlement for people affected by the derailment who have not filed individual lawsuits will be public record.
Details of that settlement also still are being worked out. Miller said attorneys expect to file a proposed settlement with U.S.
District Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck on Tuesday. A 10 Jul 2007 hearing has been scheduled, and Hovland could approve
the settlement that day.
Mark Larson, a Minot attorney who has handled about 80 claims against the railroad and settled all of them, declined to release the
amounts in his cases, but he said the railroad was "in a very strong position."
"The settlements are probably somewhere between 10 and 30 percent of what they should be," Larson said. "It's a number
that buys everybody peace, but in some cases it's fairly insignificant."
Hovland ruled in March last year that the Federal Railroad Safety Act protects the railroad from lawsuits such as those filed against
Canadian Pacific after the derailment.
Miller appealed Hovland's ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals about a year ago, but the appeal will be canceled when the
settlements become final, he said.
While Miller estimated about 1,000 individual clients in the case, he said he does not yet know how many people will be part of the
class action settlement. It could involve thousands more people, he said.
"We have been working on negotiations of the parameters," Miller said.
Unlike the individual settlement amounts, which will vary, the class action settlements are likely to be similar.
"By and large, people in the same situation will be getting the same settlement amount under the class action," Miller said.
It's unclear when derailment victims will actually receive settlement money. After Hovland approves the class action settlement terms,
there will be a period for people to file claims, Miller said. People also will have the option of opting out of the settlement and
proceeding on their own with legal claims against the railroad.
Terms of the individual settlements, including when the money will be disbursed, are confidential.
Miller said the settlement negotiations are "pretty much on track."
"We understood (in May) that certainly it was going to take a couple of months to work out those basic details," Miller said.
"We're anxious to get there," he said. "A large number of claims are going to be resolved through our
efforts."
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