(The Associated Press circulated the following article on February 13.)
MINNEAPOLIS — No decision was reached Monday as jurors considered damage awards for four people who claim they were injured when a train derailed in 2002 and spilled a cloud of anhydrous ammonia near Minot, N.D.
Deliberations were expected to continue Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court, a court clerk said.
Canadian Pacific Railway has admitted it was at fault for the derailment, so the jury of 11 men and women was responsible for deciding how much money each plaintiff would receive.
Thirty-one cars in the Canadian Pacific train went off the tracks in January 2002 on the city’s western edge. Five tank cars ruptured, releasing almost 221,000 gallons of the ammonia, a common farm fertilizer.
One man was killed and hundreds of people reported injuries ranging from burns to breathing problems from the chemical cloud that hung over the city.
The trial, which lasted about three weeks, was held in Minneapolis, where Canadian Pacific Railway has its U.S. headquarters. The railroad is based in Calgary, Alberta.
More than 100 claims were filed against the railroad. Six cases were settled out of court earlier, including a wrongful death lawsuit by the widow of John Grabinger, 38, who died while trying to escape the chemical spill.