The Jefferson Agrarian

From today’s Redding Record Searchlight:

Children of the first responders to the Cantara Loop spill of 1991 received a pleasant surprise in the mail this week.

A letter from the Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein law office in San Francisco and a $1,300 check were sent to each of the 767 beneficiaries of a fund that was established as part of a multimillion dollar settlement in the mid-’90s.

On July 14, 1991, a derailed tanker dumped 19,500 gallons of metam sodium, an herbicide, into the Sacramento River about six miles north of Dunsmuir, turning the water a toxic pea green. The herbicide poisoned the river from the loop to Lake Shasta, killing fish, birds, insects and other wildlife.

Three years later, then-Gov. Pete Wilson signed a $38 million settlement paid by Southern Pacific Transportation Co., GATX, AMVAC and J.M. Huber. The money went to clean-up efforts, river-monitoring programs, a game preservation fund, a fund for future environmental disasters and a fund for the children of those who responded first to the toxic scene.

“When the settlement was agreed upon, the judge here in San Francisco who was assigned to the case set aside a certain amount of money for a medical benefits fund that was available for people who believed they had continuing medical issues related to exposure to the fumes that followed the spill,” said Don Arbitblit, a partner at the firm.

The Minors’ Medical Benefits Trust Fund had a total balance of about $1 million and was divided equally among all beneficiaries, the letter read.

“The judge’s order said that money left over after the medical claims had been paid would be distributed to the minors who were alive and in the area and submitted timely claims and that the distribution would take place when those minors were all adults,” Arbitblit said.

Arbitblit said parents of the children filed on their behalf and were given the opportunity to submit paperwork to become part of the settlement.

Some medical claims were made in the 1990s and fully paid at that time, but none has been filed since, he said.

“(That) is why there is a substantial amount for distribution now,” he said.

Record Searchlight reporter Ryan Sabalow was one of the beneficiaries of the Minors’ Medical Benefits Trust Fund.

Sabalow’s father, Mike, worked for Southern Pacific in 1991 as a track maintenance worker. His was among the first crews that responded to the derailment. Both Ryan Sabalow and his sister, Kori, were pleasantly surprised this weekend to find checks in the mail, he said.

“It’s like getting a tax return you didn’t know was coming,” Ryan Sabalow said.

By Amanda Winters
Published Friday, February 19, 2010

Reporter Amanda Winters can be reached at 530-225-8372 or at awinters@redding.com.