16 January 2008
U.S. Appeals Court to Hear Arguments in Case of CPR Derailment in Minot, N.D.
Bismarck North Dakota USA - On the eve of the
six-year anniversary of a deadly derailment and chemical spill on the edge of a city in North Dakota, federal appeals
judges are being asked to decide how much railroads are protected from lawsuits.
Legislation signed by President George W. Bush last August says people can bring personal-injury lawsuits against
railroads in state court under certain circumstances.
In light of the change, some Minot residents whose lawsuits against Canadian Pacific Railway were thrown out of federal court are
seeking to have their cases returned to state court in Minnesota.
The railroad argues that the law change is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis is to hear arguments in the case Thursday.
A decision will come later.
Canadian Pacific lawyer Tim Thornton says in court documents that the law was changed because of "extraordinary pressure from the
trial lawyers lobby."
He calls it "a direct attack on both this court and CP," and says that if it is allowed to stand, "Congress will have
been allowed to play political favourites."
The lawyer for the Minot residents, Kristy Albrecht, calls the railroad's arguments "strident rhetoric aimed at inflaming the
emotions of this court and impugning the integrity of both Congress and the Minnesota state courts."
A Canadian Pacific Railway train left the tracks on the west edge of Minot on 18 Jan 2002, sending a cloud of toxic
anhydrous ammonia over the city.
It killed one man who tried to escape the fumes and sent others to the hospital with eye and lung problems. Hundreds of people sued in
North Dakota and Minnesota, where the Calgary-based railroad has its U.S. headquarters.
Congress changed the law dealing with what is known as railroad "pre-emption" from lawsuits after U.S. District
Judge Dan Hovland dismissed a class action lawsuit stemming from the derailment. Hovland had ruled in March 2006 that the Federal
Railroad Safety Act protects Canadian Pacific from such claims.
Late last year, Hovland gave final approval to a $7 million settlement in the class action case. The matter now before the 8th Circuit
involves cases that were not part of the class action.
Thornton maintains that Congress is telling judges how to interpret the law - "a nearly unprecedented assault upon separation of
powers." He also says Congress is unfairly targeting Canadian Pacific by making the change retroactive to the date of the Minot
derailment.
"Such legislative hubris strikes at the very heart of the nation's founding principles," he wrote in the court documents.
Albrecht says the law revision has a "legitimate legislative purpose" of clarifying the intent of Congress.
Tom Lundeen, the lead plaintiff in the case before the appeals court, said Wednesday he is glad the judges are hearing arguments but is
frustrated with the years of waiting for a resolution.
"I'd like to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I don't see one yet," he said.
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