(The Associated Press circulated the following on June 25.)
NEW YORK — Attorneys for a railroad involved in a deadly South Carolina train wreck and chemical spill want a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the company of violating a federal pollution law.
Attorneys for Norfolk Southern argued in court documents filed late Wednesday that the U.S. government cannot make a valid case that the railroad violated the Clean Water Act.
“There is no evidence … that ‘discharges’ regulated under the (Clean Water) Act reached ‘navigable waters of the United States,'” the railroad’s attorneys argued.
In April, federal prosecutors claimed Norfolk Southern was negligent by allowing chlorine and diesel fuel to seep into waterways, killing fish and plant life after the 2005 crash in the mill town of Graniteville.
Nine people died and 250 were injured as a result of the Jan. 6, 2005, crash, when a Norfolk Southern train veered off the main track onto a spur, rear-ending a parked train whose crew had failed to switch the tracks back to the main rail. The wreck ruptured a car carrying chlorine and released a poisonous cloud over the town.
As a result of the wreck, “chlorine discharged from the breached tank car settled upon and was absorbed into Horse Creek, its tributaries and their adjoining shorelines, injuring and killing fish and vegetation,” prosecutors wrote in their court filing.
State health and environmental officials said at the time of the wreck that chlorine may have traveled through a storm drain underneath the Avondale Mills textile plant. Several days later, state Department of Health and Environmental Control officials said chlorine levels in Horse Creek had returned to normal levels.
Earlier this year, Norfolk Southern reached an undisclosed settlement with Avondale Mills, which claimed the chemical spill corroded its equipment and led to its closure. During that trial, attorneys for the railroad said Norfolk Southern spent $26 million on cleanup associated with the crash.
Attorneys for the railroad also argued that prosecutors can’t show that Norfolk Southern discharged more than 10 pounds of chlorine into the creek, which they said is more than 1,000 feet from the accident site.
“The complaint is utterly bereft of any factual allegations showing how a punctured tank car containing liquid chlorine was able to discharge at least 10 pounds of chlorine that retained its liquid nature and reached Horse Creek before changing its molecular characteristics and vaporizing,” they wrote.
Prosecutors said the railroad is liable for fines of at least $130,000 for the chlorine release. Under the federal Clean Water Act, companies discharging more than 10 pounds of a chemical could face daily fines of up to $32,500.
Attorneys also challenged prosecutors’ allegations that ruptured tanks released diesel fuel into the creek, saying prosecutors had not said when an oily sheen appeared on the water. They also argued that the railroad should not be fined for failing to immediately report the incident to federal authorities, saying Norfolk Southern provided “virtually immediate notification” of the incident.
Department of Justice spokesman Andrew Ames declined to comment on the filing. Top of page