Benzene Spill Trust To Be Split Among Superior, Duluth Foundations

Two decades ago, a broken rail line caused a Burlington Northern train to derail in Superior, spilling nearly 22,000 gallons of benzene, gas and crude oil into the nearby Nemadji River. More than 40,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Now, more than $1 million that has been held in trust will be split between three foundations.

This week, a Douglas County judge upheld a decision to deny the final claim for damages from the spill. Superior attorney Toby Marcovich led a class action lawsuit that the railroad settled for $2.5 million in 1992. About $500,000 of that was never claimed and was held in trust and has accrued to around $1.3 million.

“I made a provision that money would be made available for people who could prove that they had a delayed claim for personal injuries as a result of the spill and that that would expire in 20 years,” Marcovich said. “Then the money would be divided equally among the three beneficiaries.”

The judge’s ruling this week could be appealed within the next 45 days. Otherwise, the $1.3 million will be split among foundations benefiting the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College and the Duluth/Superior area community.

Jeanne Thompson, executive director of the UW-Superior Foundation, said such large gifts don’t come along every day for the university.

“It’s going to just provide so many wonderful opportunities for our students whether that’s helping them with tuition costs or helping them to afford to travel abroad, providing opportunities like undergraduate research or attending a conference,” Thompson said. “There’s just countless numbers of opportunities with our state funding being cut, cut, cut at the university that this provides a little bit of opportunity and breathing room to put some of those funds back in place.”

Craig Fowler, executive director of the WITC Foundation, said he would like to see the money go into an endowment for students.

“That money will accrue interest and will be there to support students forever,” Fowler wrote in a press release. “I want to thank those that had the foresight a long time ago to put this together. Their vision will benefit the community well into the future.”