Norfolk Southern settles East Palestine derailment lawsuit for $600M

The Norfolk Southern railroad will settle a lawsuit over the 2023 derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, for $600 million, the company confirmed Tuesday morning.

The settlement, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, will cover uses ranging from property restoration and business losses to medical costs. The company said the settlement does not cover an admission of wrongdoing.

“If approved by the court, the agreement will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement.

The announcement comes just under a month after Judge Benita Y. Pearson, whom former President Obama appointed, said the class-action suit could proceed, rejecting the railroad’s argument that federal rail law protects the conduct at issue.

The Norfolk Southern train derailed on the morning of Feb. 3, 2023, spilling vinyl chloride, a toxic substance used in the manufacture of plastics, from several cars. While no one was injured or killed by the derailment, residents of the town have expressed concerns about lingering threats to the environment that may take years to emerge.

Earlier this year, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy testified at a U.S. Senate hearing that a controlled burn at the site that sent a plume of flame into the air was unnecessary.

“It was stabilized well, well before the vent and burn. Many hours before,” Homendy said in March.

The Environmental Protection Agency invoked a federal law that requires Norfolk Southern to cover all cleanup costs relating to the crash. The company has already spent more than $1.1 billion on the cleanup process, which the NTSB has blamed on the overheating of a faulty wheel bearing.