(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Jacob Jordan on February 26.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal judge refused Friday to appoint a mediator to settle claims between a railroad company and Graniteville residents who were affected by a deadly chlorine leak and freight train crash last month.
More than 20 lawsuits, ranging from personal injury to wrongful death, have been filed since the Jan. 6 train crash. Graniteville residents evacuated the tiny textile town after a Norfolk Southern train slammed into a parked train, puncturing a tanker of chlorine. Nine people died from the toxic cloud and about 250 were hurt.
Norfolk Southern attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Margaret Seymour to appoint a “global mediator” to help settle claims between residents who have filed lawsuits as well as those who have not, but the judge said that was out of the court’s jurisdiction. The judge also refused to grant a stay requested by the railroad’s attorneys.
“The railroad is free to settle claims with whomever,” Seymour said. But it’s not appropriate for the court to “intervene and sanction” a settlement when a person has not filed suit, she said.
A mediator could be appointed if a class-action lawsuit is certified, and there are several pending.
Norfolk Southern attorney Richard Willis said the company wanted the judge’s advice in the mediation process and wanted to get the “settlement ball rolling.”
“We’ve got a whole lot of claims in front of us,” Willis said.
He noted the company already had purchased office space in Graniteville to meet with residents and would pay for the appointed mediator.
But attorney Claire Xidis argued against the request. “We’re just concerned that people are being misled,” she said.
More than 500 cases between residents and the railroad company have been settled but the company expects to see between 2,500 and 5,000 claims involving personal injury and property damage, Willis said. About 250 to 500 claims are expected to be personal injury with about 20 to 30 very serious, he said.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys said the railroad already was engaged in an “aggressive campaign” to settle claims with residents. A couple of attorneys said the railroad tried to contact their clients without first getting in touch with the attorneys.
Willis said that may have happened because Avondale Mills, the textile company located just a few hundred feet from the crash site, had asked the railroad company to contact some 70 employees who have not returned to work to encourage them to do so. Six workers on the overnight shift at the plant died from inhaling chlorine fumes.