St. Louis Gateway Arch accident report could pave way for suits

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Aug 11, 2008 by Kelly Wiese

Last summer, as tourists were being carried up to see the view from atop the Gateway Arch, a cable snapped in the tram, knocking out power and trapping visitors for a few hours.

With a new report out blaming the National Park Service and its contractors for the cable problem, some are watching to see if litigation starts popping up.

A search of court records in both St. Louis Circuit Court and the federal Eastern District of Missouri court did not reveal any lawsuits filed so far against either the National Park Service, as the Arch grounds are a national park, or Metro, which operates the trams. The park's deputy superintendent, Frank Mares, also said it has not been sued over the cable break.

The investigative report by Maida Engineering, as first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, found that the wrong-size parts were used in the hauling system. It blamed the problem on the workmanship of the National Park Service and its contractors. While people were stuck in the Arch and it took a few hours to evacuate everyone, there were no serious injuries.

Personal injury lawyer Benjamin Sansone of St. Louis said he wasn't aware of any lawsuits filed over the accident at this point, but noted the report might be just the ticket for a lawyer with a borderline case.

"Now you've got this report from a third party saying somebody did something wrong: You just made my job a lot easier," he said.

Such a case likely would be filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, he said. The good news there for plaintiff lawyers is the statute of limitations is two years, so people involved in the July 2007 incident still have time. Sansone also said it does not appear the park service would be protected by sovereign immunity if a lawyer could prove some negligence.

"The cable broke. That tells me someone did something wrong," he said.

Under the tort claims act, a person would first file a claim with the federal agency, which has six months to investigate and either deny or settle the claim. After that, a plaintiff can bring suit in federal court.

"There's a case there. Now the whole issue is whether or not the damages justify the pursuit of that," he said.

Sansone said in a case like this, without much physical injury, it could be hard to bring a claim for emotional distress. He said he would not accept the case if a potential client came to him without physical harm but claiming emotional distress and nightmares from the event. But, he said, other lawyers certainly could try.

And more than the people stuck inside the Arch could have reason to seek to recoup something.

Metro, which runs the trams, is looking at its options to recoup lost revenue from the eight-month period when one of the two trams was shut down for repairs. Justin Struttmann, director of operations at the Arch for Metro, said the agency was waiting for the report to be complete to start figuring its claims.

"We are pursuing our options with our insurance company for our business interruption claim," he said.

According to the Gateway Arch Web site, about 1 million visitors ride to the top in a typical year. Last year it was less than 800,000 because of the closing, park officials said. Tram tickets for adults are $10 apiece; children are $3 to $7.

"We're still in the early stages of it since we just recently got this report," he said, adding that Metro officials are working to estimate their revenue losses and costs incurred.