Norfolk Southern to pay millions of dollars in compensation after train derailment in Ohio : NPR
Debris from a Norfolk Southern freight train is scattered and burning along the tracks on February 4, 2023, one day after it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. A federal judge signed off on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, on a $600 million class-action settlement over the tragic Norfolk Southern derailment in eastern Ohio last year, but many people living near East Palestine are still wondering how much they will end up paying. of the agreement.
Gene J. Puskar/AP/AP
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Gene J. Puskar/AP/AP
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced a settlement with Norfolk Southern Railway over the railroad’s toxic discharges following the incident. derailed in 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.
Under the agreement, Norfolk Southern will pay nearly $235 million to cover the EPA’s past and future cleanup costs of contaminated air, water and soil in and around the train derailment.
In addition, the railroad agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty, $25 million for a 20-year public health program, and will spend about $15 million to implement long-term groundwater monitoring and surface water for a period of 10 years.
According to the EPA, Norfolk Southern estimates it will spend more than $1 billion to remediate pollution and other harm caused by the derailments and improve rail operations and safety.
“No community should experience the trauma inflicted on residents of East Palestine,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement.
“Today’s enforcement action fulfills this commitment, ensures the company will pay for cleanup costs and helps prevent another similar disaster from happening again,” he added.
In April, Norfolk Southern agreed to pay $600 million to settle the class action lawsuit regarding the February 3 derailment. The agreement will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius of the derailment and personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius of residents who have chosen to participate.
Although the company agreed to pay $600 million as part of the settlement, it did not accept responsibility for the train derailment or admit any wrongdoing.
“Individuals and businesses will be able to use compensation from the settlement in any way they see fit to address potential adverse impacts from the derailment,” the company said in “This may include health care and medical monitoring needs, recovery and write-off of assets, and compensation for any net business losses,” said a statement following the April settlement. any.”
The deal still requires approval from a federal judge for the Northern District of Ohio.
On February 3, 2023, 38 train cars derailed in suburban East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania state line – of which 11 were carrying toxic chemicals. The derailed train cars caused a massive fire, spewing toxic smoke into the air above the town.
Nearly 2,000 of the town’s 4,900 residents were forced to evacuate.
NPR’s Joel Rose contributed to this report.
