Counties Hit by Toxic Spill Settle Claims With Railroad

Two Northern California counties announced Friday that they have settled legal claims against Southern Pacific Lines stemming from a pesticide spill that devastated a pristine stretch of the Upper Sacramento River last summer.

Under the agreement, the railroad will pay Siskiyou and Shasta counties $263,000 each for economic losses they suffered in the spill. In return, Shasta County will drop its lawsuit against Southern Pacific and Siskiyou County will waive its right to press a court claim.

“Hopefully, this should bring a close to a traumatic chapter for us,” said Shasta County Chief Executive Officer Michael Johnson. “Our taxpayers cannot afford to go through a protracted legal fight, and we feel this is a good settlement.”

Officials in Siskiyou County said they expect to receive additional money from a multimillion-dollar lawsuit the state of California filed Monday against the railroad.

“We don’t view this as the end of the line,” said Mike Hanford, the chief administrator for Siskiyou County. “But we do feel Southern Pacific has treated us fairly and sincerely so far.”

The spill occurred after a Southern Pacific freight train derailed north of the Siskiyou County town of Dunsmuir, dumping as much as 19,000 gallons of the pesticide metam-sodium into the river. The spill made 700 people ill and wiped out aquatic life along a 42-mile stretch of river--including a renowned wild trout fishery that was the region’s main tourist draw.

In addition to Friday’s settlement, Southern Pacific has paid $12 million in other spill-related claims--about half of it to businesses and residents. In May, Dunsmuir agreed to a $400,000 settlement with the railroad.

About 600 claims have not been settled. Most involve personal injury or business losses, a railroad official said.