Few residents opt out of $600 million class action settlement in East Palestine, Ohio, derailment

Ultimately, few people chose not to participate in the $600 Million Class Action Suit Settlement Norfolk Southern offered assistance to people affected by last year’s disaster disastrous train derailment in eastern palestine despite questions residents had about the deal, attorneys said.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys said only 22 of the nearly 2,000 households in the small town in Ohio where the February 2023 derailment occurred, decided to opt out of the deal by the July 1 deadline. In total, only 173 of the more than 190,000 households in the 20-mile (32.2-kilometer) area around the derailment that were covered by the deal had decided not to accept it by the time of Monday’s filing.

The train disaster caused all kinds of dangerous chemicals to leak from tank cars that ruptured, and within days of the derailment, authorities decided to blow up and burn five tank cars the vinyl chloride in them because they were afraid the cars would explode. The National Transportation Safety Board has said that venting and burning procedure was probably not necessary, but the officials who made the call did not have all the necessary information.

A federal judge has approved the deal preliminary approval, but a hearing will be held in late September to determine whether the deal will go through. In addition, Norfolk Southern agreed to pay a $15 million fine and make changes to its operations as part of a federal regulation.

The attorneys said in a statement Tuesday that “the community’s response to the settlement has been overwhelmingly positive” and that thousands of claims have already been filed.

A handful of residents have formally objected to the deal. They believe it is unfair that the people who were most affected by the derailment are getting the smallest settlements. Moreover, people have not had enough time or information to judge whether this deal is fair.

Residents were given the opportunity to hear from the NTSB discuss the reasons why the train derailed and the communication problems afterward during the council’s June 25 hearing, but the agency has not released its statement final report until Friday — nearly two weeks after people living near eastern Palestine had to decide whether to accept the settlement. And the lawyers have not yet submitted the detailed test results and other evidence they gathered as part of the lawsuit.

Some residents may receive little or nothing from the settlement, because the final amount they get will be reduced by the amount of assistance they have received from Norfolk Southern since the derailment. Even households near the derailment that should have received about $70,000 could end up with nothing if the railroad puts them up in expensive hotels or rental properties for months.

One of the deal’s biggest critics, Jami Wallace, said people like her who lost their homes and became ill after the derailment should not be denied compensation.

“Getting nothing for suffering and intentional poisoning is neither fair nor adequate,” Wallace said in her formal objection.

Norfolk Southern has provided more than $21 million in direct assistance to families who had to relocate temporarily after the derailment.

The attorneys who negotiated the deal with the railroad have said that such a compensation process is common in any lawsuit, so residents would likely face it even if they filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern themselves.

The amount people are expected to receive from the settlement also varies based on how close they lived to the derailment and how it affected them. Documents filed with the court suggest that a family living within 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of the derailment could receive $70,000 for property damage. Someone who lives farther away would get significantly less — perhaps as little as $250 for families more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) away.

The attorneys said some people could receive more than the estimated amounts after a claims administrator reviews all the individual factors.

Resident Tamara Lynn Freeze wrote in a handwritten note to the judge that it is unfair to make her decide whether to accept the settlement before she even knows how much of it she could receive.

The settlement provides for a $10,000 payment for injuries, but if accepted, it would mean residents would no longer be able to sue the railroad if they… develop cancer or other serious health conditions. They do not have to accept personal injury compensation to get the money for property damage.

Many people are still reporting breathing problems, unexplained rashes and other symptoms more than a year after the derailment, while others have no health complaints. And residents are concerned about the potential long-term health effects of all the chemicals they were exposed to.

The court did not allow the settlement to also cover possible future healthcare costs, because these are not yet known, the lawyers said.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys are expected to pay up to $162 million in legal fees from the settlement if the judge approves it.