(The following article by Jamie Satterfield was posted on the Knoxville News website on September 26.)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A year after a train derailment sent plumes of sulfuric acid into the air in Farragut, more than a dozen lawsuits seeking millions in damages have been filed on behalf of residents, businesses and at least four Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
The lawsuits – filed against Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corp. – are well-warranted, according to a Knoxville attorney who has filed more than half of them.
“The railroad had a chance to prevent this, and they didn’t,” attorney Sid Gilreath said.
The derailment, which involved 25 cars and two locomotives on a 142-car train, occurred Sept. 15, 2002, near Anchor Park in Farragut. A tanker carrying 10,600 gallons of sulfuric acid ruptured, and acid-containing white plumes shot hundreds of feet into the air.
Some 3,000 people were evacuated in West Knox County. Another 1,000 Blount County residents also were evacuated as winds blew the acid cloud across Fort Loudoun Lake.
Evacuees were out of their homes for as many as three days.
A National Transportation Safety Board report released last month blamed a broken bolt lodged in a railway switch for the derailment.
According to the report, the crew of an eastbound train alerted Norfolk Southern the switch was not properly closing, leaving a gap that could derail a westbound train.
Track maintainer Jim R. McDonald was sent to check the problem, the report stated. He saw nothing amiss, and the NTSB concluded the eastbound train’s movement along the track must have closed the gap.
McDonald oiled the switch but did not open and close it manually, the report stated. If he had performed a manual inspection, NTSB probers wrote, he would have seen the 3-inch long, 3/4-inch diameter sheared head of a bolt inhibiting the switch’s operation.
Norfolk Southern officials have said their own investigation concurs with the NTSB findings. Spokeswoman Susan Terpay said the railroad has made policy changes as a result but declined to reveal details. No railroad employees have been disciplined, she said.
McDonald is now named in the flurry of lawsuits filed in the past few weeks as the statute of limitations – set at one year following the accident – neared. Earlier lawsuits made general accusations of negligence, but the latest rounds of legal action relied heavily on the NTSB report in laying out claims against the defendants.
Among the lawsuits filed are at least two proposed class action cases and more than a half-dozen involving individual residents or businesses.
KCSO deputies Matthew W. Sexton, David U. Weaver, Kimberly Clabough and Heather P. Price are suing Norfolk Southern, CSX, Consolidated Rail and McDonald for $1.5 million each.
The four deputies contend they were exposed to sulfuric acid for eight to 10 hours while called to respond to the derailment. All four contend they became ill during their shifts and continue to suffer health problems as a result of the exposure.
“They’re still going to physicians,” Gilreath said. “They’re being restricted in their time and in their (ability to perform) their duties.”
KCSO spokeswoman Martha Dooley did not return a phone message seeking comment on the welfare of the four deputies and their current employment status.
A check of Knox County court records revealed at least 13 lawsuits pending as a result of the derailment. Combined, the lawsuits seek more than $20 million in damages.
Norfolk Southern had reimbursed evacuated residents who filed claims with the railroad after the derailment, but the firm has declined to reveal how much money has been forked out.
Knox County Finance Director John Werner said the railroad paid the county just over $48,775 in November 2002 in connection with the derailment.
“Most of that went to the Sheriff’s Office,” covering overtime pay and use of a KCSO helicopter, Werner said.
Farragut officials have said Norfolk Southern covered the cost of repairs on Turkey Creek Road, a figure estimated at $260,000.