‘89 Rail, Pipe Disaster Has a Bitter Echo

Mary Madrid’s house still shakes every time a train roars by, rattling her nerves and reminding her of the tragedy that struck her San Bernardino neighborhood 15 years ago.

Only a block from her home, an overloaded freight train jumped the tracks at a bend, sending boxcars flying into nearby homes and later triggering an underground gasoline pipeline explosion that altogether killed six people and injured 42 others in this quiet, working-class neighborhood.

“I’ll never forget it,” said Madrid, a retired school district administrator. “There was a cat that was on fire, running. I still get goose bumps when I think about it.”

The Southern Pacific Railroad accident of May 12, 1989, was one of the region’s worst rail disasters. Today, Madrid and her neighbors around Duffy Street remain bitter about it, saying little has been done to rebuild the neighborhood, compensate the victims or protect the community from another accident.

A constant symbol of that neglect, they say, is an empty, weed-choked lot along Duffy Street where the derailment and explosion demolished 18 homes.

“They should do something with it,” Duffy Street resident Jimmy Allen said as he looked out at the barren parcel. “We lost a lot of people here, man.”

Promises by city leaders and railroad officials to turn the lot into a tree-shaded greenbelt have gone unfulfilled. Efforts by residents to shut the gasoline pipeline also failed -- in fact, the company owning it has increased the pipeline’s capacity -- and neighbors say freight trains continue to roar past the neighborhood at dangerous speeds.

Making matters worse, dozens of residents were cheated out of a settlement when an attorney who sued the railroad and pipeline companies on their behalf went bankrupt and gave up his law license amid misconduct charges.

Some Duffy Street residents are so bitter that they are reluctant to talk about it. Many have moved away out of anger or fear. Those who remain say they can’t look at the empty lot without reliving the disaster.

“It’s something you never forget,” said Early Davis, 71, who saw the derailment and explosion from her front porch.

About 7:30 that morning, Davis and most of her neighbors were getting ready to go to work or send their children to school when they heard the roar and felt the rumble. Davis assumed it was an earthquake, hollering, “It’s here! It’s here! The big one!”

A combination of factors caused the derailment. The 69-car train speeding down a slight incline through the Cajon Pass was more than 3,000 tons heavier than estimated, according to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. In addition, one set of brakes on the train was disconnected, making it difficult for the conductor to slow the train as it approached a bend in the tracks adjacent to the Duffy Street neighborhood, the investigation concluded. The train was going more than 90 mph when it derailed.

The careening cars destroyed seven homes, killing two trainmen -- Everett S. Crown, 35, and Alan R. Riess, 42 -- and two children -- Jason H. Thompson, 9, and Tyson White, 7, whose home was leveled. Another resident was trapped under debris for 15 hours before he was dug out by rescuers.

Thirteen days later, as shaken residents began returning to the neighborhood, a 14-inch gasoline pipeline buried 4 feet underground along the tracks erupted in flames and smoke.

NTSB investigators concluded that the pipeline was damaged by the cleanup crews’ heavy equipment. The 250-mile pipeline carries 90% of Las Vegas’ gasoline and supplies the military with gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

The flames shot hundreds of feet into the air, spewing about 300,000 gallons of blazing fuel onto homes and streets.

“I thought it was the end of the world,” said Paul D. Evans Jr., 36, who still lives on Duffy Street, a few homes from the crash site.

That catastrophe killed two more residents, injured dozens and destroyed 11 homes.

After the accidents, Calnev Pipe Line Co. -- the previous pipeline owner -- repaired the line, encased it in concrete and buried it 6 feet deep. But that didn’t satisfy Duffy Street neighbors, who pressed the city to block the reopening of the pipeline. A Superior Court judge rejected the request, saying he lacked the jurisdiction to keep the pipeline closed. Texas-based Kinder Morgan Energy Partners bought the pipeline a few years later and recently increased the capacity from 108,000 barrels of fuel per day to 128,000 barrels per day.

Despite reassurances from rail and pipeline officials, many residents in that neighborhood say they live in fear of another accident but don’t have the money to move.

“Everything is still the same,” said Madrid, who believes she contracted asthma from sodium carbonate spilled in the derailment. “The house still shakes every time the train goes by.”

Duffy Street residents say trains carrying chemicals, military vehicles and other freight continue to speed past the neighborhood. A spokesman for Union Pacific said the speed limit on that stretch is 40 mph. He said he doesn’t have records of accidents along that stretch. But Federal Railroad Administration records list three derailments -- none causing injuries or deaths -- within a mile of Duffy Street since the 1989 tragedy.

“They have no business coming by here so fast,” said William Rice, Davis’ son-in-law.

Neighbors are also upset that the site of the tragedies remains a barren lot, strewn with trash. After the accidents, Southern Pacific and Calnev bought the homes that were damaged or destroyed. City officials and Southern Pacific representatives promised to turn the land into a landscaped greenbelt, with trees and grass.

Southern Pacific installed an irrigation system and added grass and trees, before donating the land to the city. San Bernardino Parks and Recreation Director Lemuel P. Randolph says vandals have repeatedly damaged the irrigation system, making it impossible to keep the lot landscaped. He said the city has no plan to develop the land because some residents say they fear a park will attract vagrants and drug dealers.

A few miles north, Southern Pacific employees erected a large, white cross, a memorial plaque and a marble bench in memory of the trainmen killed in the derailment. There are no such memorials for the Duffy Street victims of the accident.

Dozens of residents who joined a lawsuit against the railroad and the pipeline company lost their settlement when the attorney in the case, James Herman Davis, filed for bankruptcy in 1997 after reportedly accepting a $2-million settlement from the companies. Records show that Davis had more than $12 million in debts, including hundreds of thousands of dollars claimed by 49 Duffy Street neighbors.

A few months after Davis filed for bankruptcy, the State Bar of California launched an investigation on allegations that he misappropriated funds from several clients. Davis agreed to give up his license before the investigation was completed, according to state bar records. Davis could not be reached for comment.

“There were all kinds of promises made,” said Madrid, who along with her husband, Roy, joined the Davis lawsuit but got no settlement. As for the empty lot, “I try not to look at it.”