Canadian Pacific Agrees to $625,000 Fine for ’08 IA/WI Derailment

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A railroad company has agreed to pay $625,000 to cover environmental costs related to a 2008 derailment that caused an oil spill in the Mississippi River between Iowa and Wisconsin.

Canadian Pacific would make the payment without admitting wrongdoing to settle a civil complaint filed Tuesday by the state of Iowa and the United States government. The proposed settlement faces a 30-day comment period.

The complaint alleges that derailed locomotives spewed 4,400 gallons of diesel oil and other petroleum products onto the shoreline near Guttenberg, Iowa and into the river. It allegedly resulted in the loss of mussels that are considered endangered and damage to other aquatic life.

The complaint says Canadian Pacific took steps to clean up the oil but wasn’t able “to remediate the entire area affected.”