The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board says Canadian Pacific Railway is responsible for a derailment in Minot, North Dakota two years ago.

On Jan. 18, 2002, a noxious cloud of anhydrous ammonia was released over an area of Minot after the train left the tracks. One person was killed and several hundred were injured.

The NTSB says five cars derailed after hitting a damaged joint that connected a recently replaced section of the track to the rail. Officials say the accident happened because CP's system of track inspection and maintenance is inadequate.

"The program that they had in place did not require the track inspectors to actually get out of the vehicle and do visual inspections of the rail," says Lauren Peduzzi, spokesperson for the NTSB.

North Dakota attorney Mike Miller has been working on two major class-action lawsuits stemming from the accident. Miller says the NTSB's decision allows the lawsuits against CP to move forward. "Until the NTSB report was issued, our hands were tied. We could not take depositions of any of the CP employees," he explains.

In a statement, CP officials maintain the company did nothing wrong, saying the track was inspected by a qualified crew two days before the derailment.