Firms to Pay $40 Million in ’91 River Spill

In the state’s biggest environmental settlement, Southern Pacific and three other companies have agreed to pay a total of $40 million in compensation for the 1991 train derailment near Dunsmuir that poisoned 42 miles of the Upper Sacramento River, state and railroad officials announced Monday.

By agreeing to the settlement, none of the companies admitted any wrongdoing in the massive spill of metam sodium, an herbicide that killed virtually all aquatic life downstream.

Under the agreement announced by Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and Southern Pacific, most of the money will go to reimburse the state for its cleanup costs and pay for continuing work to restore the river.

“Our mission was to obtain fair compensation for the extensive environmental damage caused by the spill,” Lungren said. “This will help complete restoration of the damaged areas, aiding what Mother Nature herself has already accomplished.”

The July, 1991, derailment drew worldwide attention when a tank car carrying the weed killer plunged into the pristine Upper Sacramento River. The car ruptured, pouring 19,000 gallons of metam sodium into the river, which was renowned for its wild trout.

The toxic plume traveled down the river, killing almost everything in its path until it reached Shasta Lake, where the poison dissipated. At least 700 residents became ill as a noxious cloud of fumes passed through the river canyon.

The spill caused devastating losses to the tourist industry in the region. It also highlighted the continuing problems of the railroad industry in hauling toxic materials over long distances.

Since the disaster, the Upper Sacramento has recovered more quickly than state biologists expected and the popular river will be reopened in April for trout fishing.

But state Fish and Game Department biologists said between 60 and 75 species have been slow to make a comeback, including sculpin, a small bottom-dwelling fish that was once the most abundant fish in the river. Also slow to recover have been the Pacific giant salamander, crayfish and more than 40 species of freshwater clams and snails. In some areas close to the spill, as many as a third of the trees along the river have died or are dying.

“Basically we have seen a rather rapid recovery for many of the species but there are certain organisms we’re still very concerned about,” said Fish and Game biologist Steve Turek. “The ecosystem is not back to what it was prior to the spill.”

State experts said it will take up to 50 years for the ecosystem, including mature trees, to recover fully.

The settlement--which works out to nearly $1 million for every mile of river damaged--will provide $5 million to carry out further river restoration and monitoring of the ecosystem. Another $14 million will go for the long-term enhancement of the river and acquisition of additional habitat.

The agreement also includes $3 million for the creation of an emergency fund that the Department of Fish and Game can use to respond immediately to environmental disasters. Another $2 million in damages will go to the department’s fish and game preservation fund.

In addition, state and federal governments will collect $1 million in penalties and $13 million to repay the costs of responding to the spill. The agreement includes $2 million paid earlier by Southern Pacific.

A spokesman for Lungren said the agreement--which must be ratified by a federal judge--is the largest settlement of an environmental case in the state’s history.

Gov. Pete Wilson said: “The Upper Sacramento is a state treasure and I’m pleased to see California and Southern Pacific come to mutual terms for the benefit of the river and its communities. It is important . . . that we put this incident behind us by fully restoring this natural jewel.”

Southern Pacific, which announced its willingness to settle the case at the outset, will bear most of the cost, paying $32 million. GATX, the company that owned the rail car, will pay $5 million. J. M. Huber Co, which leased the car from GATX, will pay $1 million. AMVAC, the maker of metam sodium, will pay $2 million.

In a separate action earlier, Southern Pacific agreed to pay $14 million to settle the claims of residents and businesses in the area--bringing its total payout to $46 million.

The attorney general’s office noted that AMVAC has agreed to post labels with information about metam sodium on all tank cars carrying its herbicide to provide information to emergency workers.

The Public Utilities Commission also is considering giving some sort of hazard designation to the winding stretch of railroad where the spill occurred and other treacherous stretches of the state’s rail system.

State biologists who have been working on the recovery and lawsuit said the agreement will prevent years of time-consuming litigation and allow them to focus their efforts on the river.

“From our perspective, the best thing about the settlement is it frees us up to do biology, which we’re all very pleased about,” said Craig Martz, a Fish and Game plant ecologist. “But the end of the litigation doesn’t mean that the recovery is complete. It’s going to take some of these resources quite a while to come back.”