(The following story by Kevin Blanchard appeared on the Baton Rouge Advocate website on May 26.)
EUNICE, La. — Nearly four years after a train derailed in Eunice, forcing thousands of evacuations and years of environmental clean-up, Union Pacific has reached a tentative $65 million settlement to end a class-action lawsuit.
The settlement must still be approved by U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik at a “fairness hearing” later this year.
Union Pacific Railroad and lawyers representing about 10,000 claimants announced the settlement Tuesday in a release.
The May 27, 2000, derailment was caused by a defective section of track, left unnoticed by a Union Pacific track inspection system deemed “inadequate,” according to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash caused about 15 chemical-laden cars to explode and burn. About 3,000 Eunice residences and businesses were evacuated, some for up to five days, as emergency officials got the blaze under control.
Days after the accident, attorneys started filing suit against Union Pacific. Those suits were eventually consolidated into one large class action.
Plaintiffs claimed the chemicals released into the environment after the explosion were hazardous.
After four years and about $2 million on expert analysis, plaintiff attorneys decided a $65 million settlement was fair, Eunice attorney Terry Hoychick said.
“To date, no serious disease process has been identified by any physicians or scientists which can be related to exposures in the derailment,” Hoychick said in the release.
Another factor in the settlement, Hoychick said, was an appeals court ruling earlier this year that told Haik to go back and redo the proposed makeup of which people are eligible for class action.
Going back to the drawing board could have drawn out the suit another couple of years, Hoychick said.
Last month, Haik called in plaintiff and Union Pacific attorneys for a closed conference status to urge a settlement.
Hoychick said 10,600 claims have been filed. Another claims office is likely to open for awhile in order to collect additional claims or allow people to amend existing claims.
Haik will appoint a “special master” to devise a procedure to figure out how much of the settlement each claimant should receive, Hoychick said.
People closer to the accident or with larger medical bills would likely receive a larger portion, Hoychick said.
Haik will also rule how much of the settlement will be awarded to the dozens of attorneys who handled the case — likely between 20 percent and 40 percent of the $65 million, Hoychick said.
Union Pacific has already spent about $30 million on environmental cleanup in the area around the accident site. The company spent about $23 million shortly after the accident to upgrade its track in southern Louisiana, which included the Eunice area.
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said the company is still working out a plan with the state Department of Environmental Quality to remediate the area directly under the track.
After the accident, Union Pacific set up a claims office in Eunice, settling claims with residents interested in joining the lawsuit.
Those claims paid for lost wages, business interruption, crop losses, evacuation costs and other expenses.