Dunsmuir Healing; Spill Left Residue of Problems

A year after one of the state’s worst ecological disasters, this small town on the Upper Sacramento River is slowly healing itself.

The toxic plume of pesticide that flowed down the river from a derailed train car dissipated long ago, but it left behind a bitter residue of lost business and ruined health, of lawsuits and anger, and of fears about the future.

To the casual eye, it would be hard to find evidence of the spill that killed virtually all aquatic life along a 40-mile stretch of the pristine river and forced hundreds of townspeople to seek medical care. In fact, the river is recovering more quickly than experts expected and is supporting a small population of wild trout.

However, a year later, dozens of people say they still suffer the ill effects of pesticide poisoning. And the region’s tourism industry, dependent on the river, has not bounced back.

Through it all, the optimism of Dunsmuir’s business leaders has not flagged. Seeking to restore the town’s image, the Dunsmuir Chamber of Commerce has embarked on a public relations campaign to spread the word that the town is healthier than ever.

“The message is we’re alive and well,” said Mayor Virginia Barham. “I feel the city is better off today than it was a year ago.”

To drive the point home, the chamber sponsored a fish fry Sunday on the banks of the river to “celebrate” Tuesday’s anniversary of the spill. The fish, however, did not come from the river once renowned for its wild trout--they were trucked in from Eureka on the coast.

The life of Dunsmuir, an old railroad town in the shadow of Mt. Shasta, was irrevocably changed on the night of July 14 last year when a Southern Pacific freight train derailed on a sharp turn just north of town and a tank car carrying the pesticide metam-sodium fell into the river.

As much as 19,000 gallons of the pesticide flowed 40 miles downstream to Shasta Lake, killing hundreds of thousands of fish. A toxic brown cloud blanketed the river canyon, poisoning people, damaging vegetation and driving wildlife from the area.

State officials recently reported that more than 700 people living in the area became ill from the pesticide--far more than the number they believed initially.

A year after the spill, state and local officials say they do not know how many people remain ill--a subject of controversy in town and the source of a rift between business owners and other residents.

The debate is clouded by a lack of data from health officials, a rash of lawsuits filed by alleged victims and the desire of city leaders to downplay any lingering ill effects from the disaster.

Kristi Osborn, a local activist, said she knows of more than 100 people suffering symptoms--including herself. Mayor Barham--who is facing a recall for her handling of the incident--put the number at less than 100. But Joe Fisher, president of the Chamber of Commerce, questioned whether anyone was sick at all.

“It is a whole lot of unemployed people and people on welfare who are ‘sick’ and looking for a settlement,” he said.

One person who said he has never recovered from the pesticide is Jim Youngblood, a 64-year-old developer who was suffering from pneumonia when he was briefly exposed to the pesticide cloud. He said he suffers from a sore throat and bronchial tube, fatigue and some pain in his joints.

“I haven’t worked since July 15 of last year,” he said. “There’s a big improvement over last year, but I still haven’t gotten over it. Sometimes I can’t swallow at all.”

He vehemently rejects the notion that he and dozens of others affected by the spill may be faking their injuries.

“They’ve been saying nobody’s injured because they don’t want to hurt the image of Dunsmuir,” said Youngblood. “We’re all different. Some people were not susceptible to the spill and others really got miseries out of it.”

Health officials estimate that about 25 pregnant women were exposed to the pesticide but have not determined whether reports of miscarriages at the time were accurate.

Dr. Bill Baker, a local physician, downplayed claims of lingering illness or long-term harm and said that people who were sick at the time of the spill were more likely to have ongoing problems.

“Generally, the people of this community are well and healthy,” said Baker, who is serving as a spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce. “They are having fun. They are celebrating the spill by having a fish fry.”

Dunsmuir, which grew up around the railroad, has long depended on Southern Pacific and the tourism industry for its survival.

During the spring and summer, the river drew thousands of fly fishermen who loved the challenge of catching fish that were not raised in hatcheries.

Since the spill, the fishermen have vanished. Other visitors, afraid that the toxic material might have lingered in the air or water, also have avoided the area despite assurances from health officials that there is no longer a danger. Many motels, restaurants, fishing stores and other businesses have suffered a sharp decline in business.

At the Shasta View Inn, business is running about a third of what it was before the spill. The other day, two women checked in to their rooms holding tissues over their faces. Others frequently ask whether the water is safe to drink.

“It’s really been tough,” said Betty Goehring, manager of the motel. “It won’t come back until the fish come back.”

Several businesses have closed down since the spill, but most are trying to hang on with the help of settlements from Southern Pacific, which has paid more than $8 million in compensation to businesses, individuals and government agencies.

For the railroad company, the end is not in sight. Scores of lawsuits are pending, including a class-action suit filed by San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli. Immediately after the spill, his firm dispatched a mobile office to Dunsmuir to sign up clients and Belli says almost 300 people are covered by the suit.

Furthermore, state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren is expected to file a major lawsuit today against Southern Pacific--one day before the statute of limitations expires.

While lawsuits from the spill are likely to go on for years, the pace of the river’s recovery has surprised state biologists, who initially feared that the devastation was so complete that life would return far more slowly.

“We’re very encouraged by what we’re seeing up there,” said Paul Wertz, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game. “Nature’s resiliency continues to be amazing. We don’t want to overstate the comeback, however, because there are some species that have not returned.”

Along the 40-mile stretch of river, the food chain is steadily rebuilding itself from the bottom up. Algae and moss, which provide a habitat for insects, have returned. Bugs, such as the caddis fly and the mayfly, are re-establishing themselves in the river. And they, in turn, provide food for a relatively small number of trout and other fish that have migrated from the undamaged portion of the river.