(The following story by Ken Crites appeared on the Minot Daily News website on January 18.)
MINOT, N.D. — Frustration. On this, the second anniversary of the Canadian Pacific Railway derailment on the outskirts of Minot, it’s become a popular word.
People who live near the derailment site in Tierrecita Vallejo, just west of town, and in other areas in the Souris Valley are frustrated because the National Transportation Safety Board still has not released the final report of its investigation into the incident.
The early morning derailment on Jan. 18, 2002, sent several tank cars loaded with hazardous anhydrous ammonia off the tracks.
Between 200,000 and 300,000 gallons of anhydrous spewed out of the ruptured tanks and formed a thick gaseous cloud that inundated the derailment site and spread out to cover Minot and the Souris River Valley.
Hundreds of people were injured by exposure to the gas cloud and one person died.
Cleanup of contaminated soil and water continued for many weeks after the incident.
Two years later, the question on everyone’s minds remains the same: What caused the disaster?
Ted Turpin, the lead NTSB investigator of the Minot derailment, told a news conference in the days following the wreck that his team’s preliminary investigation turned up a 36-foot section of rail that had been put into place as a temporary repair. Turpin said it was believed that the rail broke free from its restraints as the eastbound train passed over it, causing the derailment.
But that’s pretty much the extent of information that has been released to the public by the NTSB to date. The report has been in limbo as further investigations have been undertaken by railroad officials. A hearing was held in Washington during which a number of topics were discussed, including why the tank cars ruptured as violently as they did, spilling their contents.
Turpin, during his brief stay in Minot, said the final report would likely be available in the spring or summer months of 2002. It wasn’t, and it still isn’t.
Ray Roberts, who lives and owns a pet boarding business a short distance from the derailment site, voiced his frustration last week.
“The NTSB should be taken out on the ocean and sunk,” Roberts said.
Roberts said he is still in business and his life now is “about as normal as you’re going to get.”
Roberts said his wife hasn’t slept well since the derailment and he has problems as well.
“My health seems to have gone downhill. I’ve got dry eyes and dry skin and other kinds of weird crap. I didn’t have any of these problems before,” he said.
Roberts said he has sent a couple of emails to Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad, both D-N.D., about the situation, but said they were ignored. He said the senators returned his e-mails replying that they were looking into the situation.
“It was canned stuff,” Roberts said.
He also called the settlement by CP Rail with the State Health Department a “farce.” Under terms of the agreement, CP Rail was fined $925,000 by the health department for the spill.
He said he is not happy about the whole situation and his feelings haven’t changed since the derailment. Roberts has hired a Bismarck attorney to represent him in a lawsuit against the railroad. That suit has been held up pending release of the NTSB final report.
Roberts’ suit is not the only one tied up in red tape. Mark Larson, a Minot attorney, said he has about 50 lawsuits pending for people. There are also about 900 lawsuits awaiting filing in a class action suit against CP Rail in Fargo.
Larson noted that a lawsuit might take as long as two years to complete after they are filed. He said those filing suit have already waited two years.
Larson lives near Tierrecita Vallejo. He said he didn’t live there during the derailment because his family was in the process of building their home at the time, but had horses stabled nearby during the derailment.
“It seems to me, though, that people in the neighborhood are making strides toward recovery, but they are frustrated with the railroad dragging its feet,” Larson said.
He said CP Rail is hesitant to pay settlements to people before the NTSB report is completed.
The railroad has not commented on the derailment because of federal laws that prohibit it from doing so until the probable cause of the derailment has been determined by the NTSB.
CP Rail, in the days after the derailment, had paid small amounts to people affected by the derailment in exchange for a promise not to sue the railroad.
Minot police investigator Lt. Steve Kukowski, who lives just a stone’s throw to the northeast of the derailment site on the east side of the U.S. Highway 83 Bypass, said the study has dragged on too long.
“Two years is just too long for an investigation. If I was investigating a person’s death, I’m sure that someone would like to see some results before then,” he said.
The morning of the accident, Kukowski bundled his family into his van and managed to get out of the immediate danger zone, but said he was injured in the process. Kukowski said he has eye problems from his encounter with the gas cloud. He said he has had surgery on his eyes and has endured multiple doctor’s appointments.
“And still my vision is not back to where it was,” the detective said.
Kukowski added he was hesitant to talk at length about his encounter on the advice of his attorney.
Mike Elm, another resident of the neighborhood, along with his family, should be former residents by this time. Elm said he and his family have bought a new house. It’s located in northwest Minot, up on the hill by the Bel Air addition.
“We just figured it was time to get out and move on,” he said.
Elm said not much has changed in the old neighborhood, except for the roads being dug up for the water project. He noted that another family, the Wielands, whose house was hit and damaged by a tank car that came through their yard, has moved. Their home was purchased by Russ Gohl and his wife, Jeanne.
Jeanne Gohl owns Earthmovers Inc., the company that was in charge of cleaning up the derailment site and that also installed the water system.
Tom Lundeen, a resident of the neighborhood who served as one of a couple of spokesmen for the people there during the evacuation of the area, said last week that a lot of things now are in a “holding pattern.” He mentioned the sewer project is one of them.
As part of the settlement between CP Rail and the State Health Department, the railroad was fined $925,000. CP Rail proposed a $500,000 mitigation project to supply treated water to the neighborhood.
That project was accepted and was installed last fall. Meanwhile, the residents were told that if they wanted sewer service from the city they could tap into a nearby sewer line that was installed by CP Rail to pump out contaminated water from the derailment site for treatment.
“We’re dealing now on the sewer issue and for now it’s in a holding pattern. That’s kind of weighing on our minds. The NTSB report delay is in a holding pattern and that’s frustrating, too,” Lundeen said.
“This weekend (the derailment anniversary) is a reminder of what happened and this is somewhat stressful to residents of Tierrecita Vallejo and people in Minot,” he added.
In addition, Lundeen said the residents of the neighborhood have to pay some additional costs of the water project.
“That’s stressful,” he said.
The streets in the neighborhood were dug up to install the water system and won’t be paved again until after the sewer project is complete, if it is.
“It’s kind of one thing after another and there’s no end in sight yet,” he said. “Issuance of the NTSB report on the derailment will bring closure for some people, but the nightmare will never go away.”