Very few people who live near the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment opted out of a $600 million class action settlement despite residents’ reservations about whether the deal offers enough, so lawyers argue the agreement should be approved later this month.
The lawyers who negotiated the deal with Norfolk Southern on behalf of everyone affected by the disastrous February 2023 derailment said only 370 households and 47 businesses in the 20-mile (32-kilometer) radius around the derailment opted out of the property damage payments.
That includes only 82 opt-outs from households within 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of the crash who were promised $70,000 for property damage. People who lived at the outer edge of the area will only receive a few hundred dollars if a federal judge approves the settlement after a Sept. 25 hearing.
Altogether, 54,925 claims had been filed as of last week, and that number should be close to the final total because there was an Aug. 22 deadline to submit forms.
“It is deeply satisfying that this community overwhelmingly supports this settlement,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a statement. “This result would not have been possible without their resolve and determination to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.”
A separate payment of up to $25,000 for personal injuries was more controversial because residents were required to give up any right to sue in the future if they develop cancer or other serious ailments. But some 97% of East Palestine residents still signed onto that.
Some residents have complained that even though the lawyers have said this settlement is bigger than any other derailment settlement, the payments still aren’t enough to compensate them for all their suffering. Many people don’t like the fact that aid payments they have received from the railroad will be deducted from any settlement they ultimately receive.
One of the key concerns for those objecting to the deal is that the contamination left behind after hazardous chemicals spilled and burned after the train crash could be worse than they know. That’s why they filed a motion asking the judge to order the lawyers to release all the tests their expert did in the community.
The plaintiff’s lawyers said in their motion that they can’t release those tests because it would violate the terms of the settlement. They tried to reassure the community that they did extensive research to make sure the settlement was adequate by interviewing some 70 people and reviewing nearly 1.35 million pages of documents.
A separate federal settlement between the government and the railroad will ensure that Norfolk Southern pays for the cleanup that is still ongoing and for long-term medical monitoring of residents and tests of groundwater.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed early this summer that the derailment was caused by an overheated wheel bearing that wasn’t caught in time by trackside detectors. Investigators also said they determined that officials never needed to blow open five tank cars containing vinyl chloride and burn the plastic ingredient because those tank cars weren’t going to explode.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers said that because of their extensive investigation they weren’t surprised by anything that came out at the NTSB hearing in June.