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Torts Keyed to Farnesworth
Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. v. American Cyanamid Co.
Citation:
916 F.2d 1174 (7th Cir. 1990)
ProfessorMelissa A. Hale
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
American Cyanamid Co. (Defendant) manufactures chemicals including acrylonitrile. Defendant loaded 20,000 gallons of acrylonitrile onto a leased railroad tank car. The car was brought by train to a railroad yard where Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (Plaintiff) owned a switching line to move cars from one railroad track to another. Plaintiff’s employees noticed that the tank car was leaking acrylonitrile and eventually were able to stop the leak. The Illinois Department of Environmental Protection ordered Plaintiff to decontaminate the site because acrylonitrile is extremely flammable, toxic, and possibly carcinogenic. The decontamination measures cost Plaintiff $981,022.75. Plaintiff sued Defendant for negligence and strict liability to recover this cost.
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