172 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

CNN, 4/9/24:

 

 

      Norfolk Southern reaches $600 million settlement to settle East Palestine derailment suit  

 

 

Norfolk Southern has reached a $600 million settlement that, if approved by a court, will resolve all class-action lawsuits within 20 miles of its 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, derailment that spilled more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals into the soil, water and air.

 

Story

[CNJRoss]

News Nation, 4/10/24

 

East Palestine residents unhappy with Norfolk after settlement

• Train derailment left East Palestine residents with health issues
• Railroad company Norfolk Southern settled class action lawsuit
• Residents want to see Norfolk Southern do more to 'make it right'

 

(NewsNation) — Norfolk Southern agreed to a $600 million settlement in a class action lawsuit, but some residents of East Palestine, Ohio, say they still want to see more from the company after a fiery train derailment in the town left them with health issues.

 

About 100,000 residents and businesses are eligible to get money from the settlement. They have to be within a 20-mile radius of the derailment. Split per person, that means these residents can expect to get about $6,000 each before attorney’s fees are added in, although lawyers tell NewsNation some will get more and others will get less depending on their claims.

 

 

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[CNJRoss]

Associated Press, 5/14/24

Whistleblower questions delays and mistakes in way EPA used sensor plane after fiery Ohio derailment

 

The U.S. government has a specialized plane loaded with advanced sensors that officials brag is always ready to deploy within an hour of any kind of chemical disaster. But the plane didn’t fly over eastern Ohio until four days after the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment there last year.

 

A whistleblower told The Associated Press that the Environmental Protection Agency’s ASPECT plane could have provided crucial data about the chemicals spewing into the air around East Palestine as the wreckage burned and forced people from their homes.

 

The man who wrote the software and helped interpret the data from the advanced radiological and infrared sensors on the plane said it also could have helped officials realize it wasn’t necessary to blow open five tank cars and burn the vinyl chloride inside because the plane’s sensors could have detected the cars’ temperatures more accurately than the responders on the ground who were having trouble safely getting close enough to check.

 

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