05/19/2009

Associated Press

Settlements have been reached in all but one of the lawsuits stemming from an Amtrak train derailment near Stevenson, Wash., in 2005.

U.S. District Court filings show the latest settlement was reached in mediated negotiations last month, although some paperwork remains to be completed. It covers 59-year-old Emma Madrid Diaz of Kennewick, 22-year-old Nancy C. Zamudio of Pasco, 40-year-old Maria Madrid and 23-year-old Carlos Madrid of West Richland and four minors.

They were in a westbound Amtrak train that jumped the tracks April 3, 2005, in the Columbia River gorge about 40 miles east of Portland, Ore. Twenty-six people were injured.

Amtrak lawyer Timothy D. Wackerbarth total payments in that and other settlements come to "well under $1 million."

The lone pending lawsuit is by 36-year-old conductor Christopher Blankenship.