Minot, North Dakota train derailment

The Minot Train Derailment occurred in Minot, North Dakota on 18 January 2002. At approximately 2:30 a.m. local time, a Canadian Pacific train derailed about 4 miles west of the city center, in a development called Terracita Vallejo. Tanker cars carrying anhydrous ammonia ruptured, spewing out a cloud of caustic, poisonous gas over the city.

ounding the alarm

Emergency response to the disaster was confused at best. The late hour was a problem, as many media outlets were offline or unstaffed, as is usual at 2:30 AM local time. KMOT was the only television station on air at the time; KXMC signed on early to cover the disaster; KXND and KMCY, without local production staff, did not interrupt programming when they returned to the air.

On radio, no emergency warnings were issued for several hours while Minot officials located station managers at home. The incident has been cited as an example of the physical dangers of media consolidation and the currently prevalent cost-cutting measure of not keeping overnight staff at stations. Even without activation of the Emergency Alert System, a live announcer would still have been able to warn citizens of the emergency via the traditional means of the broadcast signal and an on-air microphone. As local stations were running in automated mode, there was nobody on-site to interrupt programming and issue warnings concerning the disaster.

Response

After the media was contacted, alerts went out. Citizens were instructed to close doors and windows, boil water and/or cover their faces with wet cloths to counteract the ammonia.

By morning, the cloud was dissipating, but covered a wider area of the city. Governor John Hoeven arrived on a North Dakota National Guard helicopter to survey the disaster, landing near Dakota Square Mall for a brief press conference.

Coverage and aftermath

The derailment made national news in the United States and Canada, though the CP involvement perhaps encouraged broader coverage in the latter. CBC reporters were on the scene the day of the disaster, and filed reports on the aftermath on the national news programs throughout the week, while ABC News provided only a short clip the day of the disaster.

After the disaster, CP opened a claims office in Minot to avoid a larger lawsuit. Residents were offered several hundred dollars as a settlement, waiving their rights to pursue a claim in court.

After the gas cleared, cleanup of the site proceeded in earnest. CP removed ammonia-contaminated ice from the Souris River to avoid further environmental damage.

Following the disaster, the Minot city council imposed a speed limit on trains passing through the city.

References

*CBC News, Minot train derailment kills one, injures dozens. [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2002/01/18/mb_derail2-020118.html]
*Democracy Now, January 25, 2007 [http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2007/1/25]
*Eric Klinenberg, Associate Professor of Sociology, NYU. "Fighting For Air: The Battle to Control America's Media", Metropolitan Books, 2007.