East Palestine residents worry about train derailment settlement

(NewsNation) — The deadline for East Palestine residents to opt into a $600 million class action settlement over last year’s train derailment is fast approaching. 

Some residents of the Ohio village, though, are concerned that the agreement was rushed and that after legal fees and other considerations, the payouts will not be enough to help them recover. 

Members of the East Palestine community are still grappling with the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border in February 2023. Because the train had been carrying hazardous materials, fears grew about a potential explosion, and officials intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and smoke into the air. Residents had to evacuate their homes, only to face health issues upon returning. 

A federal judge in May signed off on the settlement, but residents say the attorneys involved don’t care about East Palestine or them. Instead, some say, the lawyers are just trying to get their cut of the proceeds—which could be as much as $180 million—as quickly as possible. This means families living within a mile of the derailment and burn area would get around $70,000 each. 

“This class action, I would like to see it stomped down,” one East Palestine woman, Krissy Ferguson, said. “The attorneys work for their clients, and they’re not listening to their clients. This should not have been settled so soon. Things need to come out. Testing needs to be done, and the town needs to be cleaned up.”

Frustrating residents is language in the fine print of the settlement agreement releasing the Environmental Protection Agency from any future claims. 

“Governmental agencies, entities, and authorities, whether federal, state, county, or local, their employees, officers, agents, members, and volunteers” are listed among the released parties.

In addition, there are absolutely no mentions of health care for residents in the settlement.

“One of our biggest concerns has always been human health, and this does not even provide any type of health fund for us as residents,” Jami Wallace of East Palestine said. 

What Wallace says she wants to see are changes to the settlement agreement that meet both the short-term and long-term needs of those in the village.

“We’re going to keep fighting until we’re made whole and until we can ensure the financial safety of our children in the future,” Wallace said. “God forbid I pass away early of cancer — is my daughter going to get stuck with all my bills? What if she gets cancer and I’m gone and I can’t help her?”

Residents have until July 1 to make a decision on whether to take part in the settlement.

This comes just days after the National Transportation Safety Board found that Norfolk Southern failed to disclose critical information from first responders who were tasked with figuring out how to deal with the derailed train. Not only could the crash have been avoided, a report published Wednesday by the NTSB said, but the controlled vent and burn that released toxic chemicals into East Palestine’s air, soil and water was unnecessary.

Executives from Norfolk tried to pressure investigators to change the findings and issued scathing comments on unattended sensors that should have detected the overheated bearing, the NTSB said.

Now, Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Republican J.D. Vance are both calling for reforms.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.