New Book

Welcome to Alberton, Montana: Anatomy of a Toxic Train Wreck. A new abridged version of the Alberton chlorine spill story is now available on Amazon as of December 21, 2022. GASSED: The True Story of a Toxic Train Derailment is a two-book series available both in paperback and e-book. Book 1 The Spill, and Book 2 The Long Haul.

On April 11, 1996, a train derailed outside Alberton, Montana, in the dead of night, releasing a massive cloud of chlorine gas. GASSED: The True Story of a Toxic Train Derailment is a two-book series about the derailment and the life-changing aftermath for many Montanan residents. BOOK 1 – The Spill reveals the crisis of panicked townsfolk fleeing a toxic cloud, and the ensuing struggle to patch the largest-ever breach of a liquid chlorine tank. Hundreds of people experience acute injury, with one immediate death. RL Scholl raises critical questions about the emergency response and the serious controversies that divide the community. BOOK 2 – The Long Haul chronicles the struggles of chlorine exposure survivors, as many suffer from chronic illness that they were told they shouldn’t have. For those who seek justice in the courtroom, the evidence raises a disturbing question: was this devastating derailment an unavoidable accident or the result of negligence? Scholl’s riveting case study illuminates the physical, psychological and financial devastation of a toxic mass exposure that could happen anywhere, anytime. Readers with an interest in Montana history, emergency response to toxic spills, chronic health effects from mass chlorine exposure, and environmental justice issues will find this book a rich resource.

The original full e-book is still available at Amazon:

Alberton, Montana: Anatomy of a Toxic Train Wreck

Book Overview of GASSED: The True Story of a Toxic Train Derailment

Book 1 – The Spill

Part I – The Spill: An MRL train derails near Alberton, Montana, resulting in tank ruptures including chlorine gas. One thousand people are evacuated for 17 days as workers struggle to contain the chlorine leak.

Book 2 – The Long Haul

Part II – Aftermath: When spill victims return home after the 17-day evacuation, many residents report chemical odors that trigger symptoms. Some people find it intolerable to return home.

Part III – The Long Haul: Having been told to expect complete recovery, many spill victims instead experience chronic illness. Some embark on a journey to get medical and financial help from the government, and answers to questions about their exposures.

Part IV – Light at the End of the Tunnel: Having received no meaningful help from local, state and federal agencies, organized spill victims petition the National EPA Ombudsman, who agrees to an investigation and ultimately a public hearing.

Part V – Derailed: The National EPA Ombudsman, and his Alberton chlorine spill case, face jeopardy as the EPA seeks to greatly weaken his capacity to conduct investigations into EPA Superfund sites.

Part VI – The Last Train: This section examines Alberton chlorine spill litigation and the main two frontlines of medical injury and liability, culminating in the Austin v. MRL trial. This ends the narrative arc of the book.

Appendix – Testimony: Alberton spill victims speak to the chronic illness they have experienced.

I hope you will find interesting and helpful this detailed account of the catastrophic 1996 train derailment and chlorine release outside the small railroad town of Alberton, Montana. This book chronicles the saga of the spill, evacuations and the response, as well as the aftermath for the injured victims, many of whom sought answers to the chronic illness that forever changed their lives.

The western edge of Montana suggests the profile of a face, with Alberton in the “eye,” deep in the folds of the Rocky Mountains. Thirty miles to the east lies Missoula, the second-largest city in Montana. The 1996 derailment punctured a tank containing 180,000 pounds of liquid chlorine. Chlorinated gases soon spread in all directions of the narrow mountain valley, overtaking nearby sleeping communities. The derailment occurred on the border of sparsely populated and relatively poor Mineral County–home to Alberton–and much larger Missoula County. But the gas knew no boundaries.

Prologue

“All the News That’s Fit to Print”*

Some say that if it isn’t reported in the New York Times, it didn’t happen. The subject of this book never registered on the radar screen of that historical record. There was no story.

A self-promotional coffee table book published in 1997 called Montana Rail Link—the Main Street of Southern Montana, commemorated the tenth anniversary of the railroad. Essentially a photo album of the 931 miles of track operations, the book illustrated the route moving east from Sandpoint, Idaho, across the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, on to the flat plains of Laurel, outside Billings, Montana. The introductory text mentioned few notable accidents. In its entirety (though not entirely accurate) the Alberton derailment was documented as follows:

“In 1996, an eastbound derailed at Cyr with liquid chlorine cars in its consist which ruptured, forcing the nearby residents of Alberton (of former Milwaukee Railroad fame) to be evacuated for several days. This derailment closed the River Line for two weeks setting up a long detour over the BN and Evaro Hill for lighter trains.” [Fox, Wesley. Montana Rail Link—the Main Street of Southern Montana. Dexter, Michigan: Thompson-Shore, 1997.]

Here lay the hint of a story—a place, a time, an incident. The action, however, implied mere inconvenience (mostly for the railroad). Hardly a significant tale.

This book fully documents the train derailment on the cold, rainy morning of April 11, 1996, just outside of Alberton, Montana. At the time, it was the largest chlorine spill and mixed-chemical spill in United States rail history. Over a thousand people evacuated the bucolic area, hundreds went to emergency rooms and over a dozen were hospitalized. One man died immediately at the scene. Technical responders struggled to patch the largest known breach on a chlorine tank. Seventeen days later, after the ruptured tanker was finally emptied of its remaining chlorine, people came home—some overjoyed, some with deep foreboding. A story with substance, if not very promotional for the railroad.

By and large, as reported in local news and government documents, the story ended there. The aftermath was for claims agents and lawyers to sort out.

As it turned out, this story had legs.

Alberton, Montana: Anatomy of a Toxic Train Wreck embraces the supposition that the truth—whatever that may mean—is seldom satisfied by any one story.

I hope this book serves as a valuable resource.

*Slogan on the masthead of the New York Times, created by owner Adolph S. Ochs in 1897.

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Many Thanks

Alberton, Montana: Anatomy of a Toxic Train Wreck has been a long labor of love. Donations are welcome! (See below) Sincere thank yous to the residents, activists and agency officials interviewed for this book.

Thank you as well to the help of small grants in the early stages of this work from the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Matthew Hansen Endowment from the University of Montana Wilderness Institute.