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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CN) — A class settled its claims against Norfolk Southern for $600 million less than two years after a disastrous train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border exposed residents to toxic chemicals.
The money will be distributed to residents and small businesses affected by the derailment and subsequent chemical spill, but does not come with an admission of wrongdoing by Norfolk Southern.
Money from the settlement will be used by residents to offset health care costs and property damage, depending on their proximity to the site of the accident.
U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson, a Barack Obama appointee, held a hearing Wednesday morning before she officially approved the settlement.
Nearly 55,000 claims have been filed and only 370 households in the 20-mile radius proposed in the deal opted out, AP has reported.
At 8:55 pm Eastern on Feb. 3, 2023, at least 38 train cars derailed, spilled their loads and began burning just outside East Palestine, Ohio. Officials conducted a controlled burn of various chemicals in the aftermath of the derailment, including vinyl chloride, used in the production of plastics, and more than 1,500 residents were evacuated from their homes as a precautionary measure.
Surrounding waterways were also affected by the chemical spill, but Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued statements and even drank from residents’ taps in the weeks that followed to assuage concerns about the safety of the water supply.
Many East Palestine residents reported respiratory issues, headaches and nosebleeds in the wake of the accident and its long-term effects remain unclear.
A study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison released in June 2024 showed pollution from the derailment reached at least 16 other states and affected one-third of the American population, or 110 million people.
Attorneys for the class and Norfolk Southern but did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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