(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Blake Nicholson on April 16.)
MINOT, N.D. — The head of the Federal Railroad Administration on Thursday said his agency shoulders some of the blame for a deadly train derailment and chemical spill here two years ago and is working to improve rail safety nationwide.
City residents and others who attended a community forum were unconvinced.
“What I hear is just, ‘We’re going to keep reviewing, we’re going to computer model this,'” Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., told FRA administrator Allan Rutter. “I don’t detect any sense of urgency that I think people in this community would like to see.”
Rutter said his agency has taken such action as reducing speeds on certain types of track, to improve safety after the Jan. 18, 2002, Canadian Pacific Railway derailment that killed one person and injured hundreds who were caught in a cloud of farm fertilizer on the edge of Minot.
“That kind of catastrophic failure of the rail cars had never happened before,” Rutter said.
He said his agency also is working on recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the crash for two years.
Five cars on the 112-car Canadian Pacific train broke open after the Minot derailment, and others leaked. About 221,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia were released. The crash caused more than $2 million in damage, and environmental cleanup cost more than $8 million, the NTSB said.
“We don’t ever want another community to experience what happened to you,” Rutter told residents at Thursday’s meeting.
Conrad asked Rutter why the Federal Railroad Administration, which monitors railroads, did not discover problems with the track before the derailment.
“We do bear some degree of culpability,” Rutter acknowledged.
The NTSB has blamed the disaster on inadequate track maintenance and inspections, a finding disputed by the railroad.
The NTSB has called on the Federal Railroad Administration to rate the safety of older tank cars that carry such things as toxic chemicals, and develop standards for new tank car construction. Those recommendations have been incorporated into legislation headed to the U.S. Senate.
NTSB chairwoman Ellen Conners said Thursday that the two-year investigation into the cause of the crash took too long, but she vowed that the agency “will be on our bully pulpit” to improve railroad safety.
Thursday’s meeting lasted about three hours, but residents got only about 20 minutes to ask questions.
“There are a lot of stories left to be told,” said Tom Lundeen, who has been a spokesman for people who live in the neighborhood closest to the derailment.
Lundeen said he wanted to address the federal officials but did not have the opportunity.
“Residents most affected by this derailment didn’t get much of a chance to speak,” he said.
Phillip Hundley, who said he has serious health problems as a result of the chemical spill, also was frustrated.
“When they have people with serious questions, they cut them off,” he said.
The Canadian Pacific Railway did not send a representative to Tuesday’s meeting, but sent a statement saying the railroad disputes the NTSB conclusions about inadequate track maintenance and inspections.
“CPR’s track in North Dakota is safe,” the railroad statement said.
“For them to take no responsibility and for them not to bother to come to this community and explain themselves, I find that completely unacceptable,” said Conrad, who chaired the meeting.
Rutter said Canadian Pacific is now in compliance with its own maintenance program for that type of track.
The state Health Department in July 2003 fined the railroad $925,000 for environmental violations.
Lundeen said the NTSB should be more definitive, instead of finding a probable cause.
“I wish the NTSB would say, ‘You are at fault. Not probably. You are the cause.’ Make it point blank,” he said.
The widow of John Grabinger, 38, who died after the derailment, already has filed wrongful death lawsuits against Canadian Pacific and tank car manufacturers. MeLea Grabinger, of Minot, is seeking more than $75,000.
Gene Bell, of Minneapolis, a division general chairman for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way, a union that represents track maintenance workers, said more workers are needed to maintain and inspect the tracks. The safety officials’ comments were mostly rhetoric, he said.
“They say they’ll do more of this, more of that. They’re going to watch things. It’s the same response as the railroad,” he said.
Genevieve Tompers, who also said she suffered health problems after the derailment, thought the officials were trying to help.
“I think they’re doing what they can, but it’s going to take a lot time to solve it,” she said.