The lawsuit filed against CSX Transportation Inc. on behalf of several Blount County residents stemming from a train derailment that occurred in 2015 has been dropped. The residents are still pursuing the lawsuit against the owner of the derailed tank car, Union Tank Car, and are set to go to trial next week.
The attorneys for the plaintiffs told The Daily Times that a settlement agreement was reached with CSX but the settlement terms are confidential. The civil trial against Union Tank Car will begin on Monday in Knoxville’s U.S. District Court.
The derailment at the heart of the lawsuits occurred when a tank car partially derailed and caught fire while carrying 24,000 gallons of acrylonitrile.
Both sides have agreed that the roller bearing on the car in question overheated and caused the car to partially derail. The car was then dragged around nine miles. During this time, a broken axle punctured the car and lead to the fire that burned for 16 hours.
There have been seven other lawsuits filed against CSX and Union Tank Car as a result of the derailment. One of the lawsuits filed was a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit that was filed on behalf of the family of James Patty Jr., the Blount County Fire Captain who died while fighting the fire caused by the derailment.
Blount residents settle civil suits against CSX in train derailment
