Conrail asks court to dismiss suit by Paulsboro first responder

Conrail is asking a federal court in Camden to dismiss a lawsuit stemming from last year’s train derailment in Paulsboro.

The suit by a first responder is one of many against the rail company.

Conrail’s initial response says that Len Clark’s suit fails to show that “the Plaintiff suffered actual damages.”

Clark’s lawyer, Matthew Weng, says it’s still early in the litigation

“In the end, what happened was a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals and that’s not supposed to happen under any conception of what is reasonable,” said Weng.

Clark responded to the derailment as part of Gloucester County’s Office of Emergency Management.

The accident in November resulted in the release of a chemical called vinyl chloride, which the Environmental Protection Agency links to cancer.

The spill led to mass evacuations from nearby homes. The latest complaint, filed this week cites new evidence that Conrail warned rail workers away, at the same time first responders were working without protective gear.

More than 250 people have sued Conrail since the accident.