4 May 2006
More Families Settle Minot Derailment Lawsuits with Canadian Pacific Railway
Minot North Dakota - Three more families have settled lawsuits against the Canadian Pacific
Railway over a 2002 derailment and chemical spill.
Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis did not release the settlement amounts.
The lawsuits that were settled were scheduled to be part of the third wave of cases to go to trial. The court said eight other cases
were still scheduled for arguments, starting next week.
One of the cases settled involved a family whose home was damaged in the derailment.
The home where Carmel and Lee Wieland and their son, Jacob, lived was hit by a tank car carrying anhydrous ammonia early in the morning
of 18 Jan 2002.
The car had travelled about 300 metres from the derailment site on the west edge of Minot. It smashed into the bedroom where Carmel and
Lee Wieland were sleeping, coming to rest only a few feet from their bed.
The Wielands cited medical bills and health problems from the anhydrous spill in their lawsuit.
A Minneapolis jury in February awarded four people nearly $1.86 million US for injuries they suffered in the 2002 wreck. Six other
lawsuits have been settled out of court. More than 200 lawsuits are still pending before Judge Tony Leung in Minneapolis, where
Calgary-based Canadian Pacific has its U.S. headquarters.
The National Transportation Safety Board ruled that inadequate track maintenance and inspections were to blame for the 2002 derailment,
a finding the railway disputed.
The derailment sent a cloud of anhydrous ammonia - a toxic farm chemical - over Minot, killing one man and sending hundreds of people
to the hospital.
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