Union Pacific Railroad v. California Public Utilities Commission

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter came before the Court on May 1, 2000, on plaintiffs’ and defendants’ cross-motions for summary judgment. Having carefully considered the written and oral arguments presented by the parties, intervenors, and amicus curiae, and the voluminous record herein, the Court grants in part, and denies in part, the motions for summary judgment as set forth below.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

As explained in our December 10, 1997 memorandum addressing plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction, this case has its genesis in two major railway accidents that occurred in 1991. On July 14, 1991, a train operated by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company derailed on the Can-tara Loop Bridge near Dunsmuir, California with devastating results. Thousands of gallons of metam-sodium, which becomes highly toxic when mixed with water, spilled into the Sacramento River, killing all fish and vegetation along the river for 40 miles, and causing widespread health problems for area residents. The Sacramento River ecosystem may never recover given that some species were completely extricated from the river. See Bagley Deck, Vol. 1, ¶ 2, and appended Administrative Record…