SIOUX CITY -- Owners of land at the site of a 2018 train derailment and oil spill near Doon, Iowa, are seeking damages from the railroad company for the ongoing cleanup and reduced property values they say were caused by oil and contaminants that remain in the soil.
Philip, Kristi, John and Helen Kooima, all of Rock Valley, Iowa, have sued BNSF Railways for negligence, requesting a jury trial and asking for punitive damages against the Fort Worth, Texas, company. The lawsuit, initially filed June 22 in Lyon County District Court, was removed to U.S. District Court in Sioux City on Friday.
The Kooimas allege that BNSF knew of flooding in the area on June 22, 2018, but was negligent in failing to inspect, maintain and repair its track through the area, which had flooded after 5-7 inches of rain had fallen in the previous two days.
Flooding had washed out track, causing the derailment in which 33 tank cars left the track, and 10 of them spilled approximately 160,000 gallons of oil. Though much of the oil was contained between the tracks and two roads, floodwaters washed through the oil and into the Rock River, Little Rock River and Burr Oak Creek. The leak led to the evacuation of at least 12 people in the vicinity and caused the city of Rock Valley, about five miles downstream, to shut down its drinking water wells.
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State and federal officials built a berm around the derailed cars to keep leaking oil from entering into the floodplain, and contaminated topsoil also was replaced.
The Kooimas, who own approximately 464 acres of land at and around the derailment site, said their property has suffered "severe, permanent and disabling" damages, and they will continue to spend money to counter damage done to the farm land, trees and green space. The land's value has been reduced as a result of the oil and contaminants they say remain in the soil. The permanent loss of property value is to be determined at trial, the lawsuit said.
Federal investigators later determined the 110-unit train, which was hauling nearly 2.5 million gallons of crude oil from a terminal in Alberta, Canada to Houston, was traveling 48 mph, 1 mph below the maximum authorized speed on that section of track, when the emergency breaks were applied, causing the derailment.
In December 2021, BNSF agreed to pay a settlement of more than $1.5 million to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Clean Water Act violations resulting from the derailment.
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