Norfolk Southern to Pay $4 Million for Chlorine Spill

Norfolk Southern Railway will pay a $4 million penalty to settle alleged Clean Water Act violations, the government said, in connection with a catastrophic 2005 chlorine spill from a train accident in Graniteville, S.C.

The toxic cloud that the chlorine created was blamed for killing nine people, injuring hundreds more and ruining a textile plant. The railroad has already paid to settle many claims, but the environmental issues remained unresolved until now.

Under a settlement filed in federal court in Columbia, S.C., NS will pay “a civil penalty of $3,967,500 for the alleged CWA violations, to be deposited in the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund,” said the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

It will also pay $32,500 to the Hazardous Substance Superfund, to settle a separate allegation that it failed to immediately notify the National Response Center of the chlorine release, the government said.

“Under the settlement, Norfolk Southern does not admit any liability nor any of the facts alleged in the complaint. The settlement resolves all claims brought by DOJ,” a company spokesman said.

In the Jan. 6, 2005, accident, a derailed tank car ruptured and released the chlorine, and thousands of gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the tanks of two locomotives.

Besides the deaths and injuries of people, the federal agencies said “the incident resulted in the evacuation of more than 5,000 people living and working within a one-mile radius of the release area. A cloud of the gas settled over nearby Horse Creek and its tributaries and was absorbed into the water in sufficient quantity to kill hundreds of fish.” Some of the leaked diesel fuel also reached the creek.

In other terms of the agreement, the government said, NS will provide “incident command system training to environmental and transportation personnel,” stock the nearby Langley Pond with at least 3,000 fish, post the phone number of the National Response Center to help in spill reporting and help plant vegetation along the banks of Horse Creek to decrease erosion.

The Graniteville accident was the most deadly of several toxic chemical releases in the past decade in the nation’s rail network that helped raise concerns about the risks of hauling those materials and the potential financial liability for carriers.

Railroads have been pressing Congress and regulators to develop new liability limits, but in the meantime have negotiated or imposed higher rates to haul such cargoes and have called for an end to shippers moving those chemicals long distances. For security reasons, some government agencies have also issued rules limiting the routes to haul highly toxic cargoes, to guard against a catastrophic release in a major population center.

The final consent decree is posted online at the Justice Department site.

Source: Journal of Commerce