GASSED: The True Story of a Toxic Train Derailment

We continue the chapter on Claims, as Alberton spill victims recount their experiences with Montana Rail Link claims agents. We also look at the case to be made for exposure to chlorine and other chemicals in the Alberton spill.

We consider what was known about exposure to chlorine gases at the time of the Alberton spill, and understood about multiple chemical sensitivity.

We examine the relationship between Alberton chemical spill victims and the doctors who treated them--or served as witnesses against them in litigation.
Pictured: Dr. Fredrick Mote of Superior, Montana

We examine how health officials and health agencies approached issues around chemical sensitivity, and how their conclusions impacted spill victims.
Pictured: Ellen Leahy, director of the Missoula City-County Health Department

The final piece in the medical case for Alberton spill victims considers the evidence for neurological, or brain, damage from chlorine.
Pictured: Dr. Kaye Kilburn at the EPA Ombudsman hearing on the Alberton spill (video frame grab by RL Scholl)

We briefly look at the three cases that go to trial over the Alberton spill, and then consider the issue of liability for the derailment, which Montana Rail Link vigorously denies.
Pictured: Map showing worst areas of chlorine damage (bronzing) to conifers.

As litigation heats up between Montana Rail Link and spill victims, a judge sanctions MRL for withholding documents about rail wear on their line. Meanwhile, critical pieces of the failed rail are never found, and some that were found go missing.

Plaintiffs build the case that Montana Rail Link has run an unsafe railroad for many years, culminating in increased accidents and failed rail leading up to the Alberton spill. MRL dismisses the accusations as a ‘junk railroad conspiracy theory.’ We also consider the recent history of Curve 155 inspections.

Following the disastrous Alberton derailment and chemical spill, along with other recent derailments on the Montana Rail Link line, the FRA conducts a special investigation. We also take a closer look at a VSH—a vertical split head—and how they form in a rail and cause failure.
Pictured: diagram of a vertical split head in a rail

We take a close look at Montana Rail Link's rail wear standards, and how rail wear might have contributed to the Alberton derailment and toxic chemical spill.
Pictured: new rail and rail wear measurement diagram