California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : EPA Sues Railroad Over River Spill

The Environmental Protection Agency and other federal departments have sued Southern Pacific Transportation Co. over a 1991 railroad accident that killed nearly all plant and fish life in a section of the upper Sacramento River. The suit, filed Thursday in federal District Court in Sacramento, accuses the railroad of violating the Clean Water Act and seeks reimbursement for damage caused to natural resources. It also asks that the railroad pay the cost of assessing the damage. Damage figures are still being gathered but the total is expected to be in the millions of dollars. “Southern Pacific . . . must pay the penalty for causing one of the most notorious water pollution incidents in recent years,” EPA Regional Administrator Daniel W. McGovern said in a statement. Sacramento-based U.S. Atty. George O’Connell said the suit was filed because efforts to negotiate a settlement without litigation failed. The Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture joined in the suit.