DOJ, EPA Settle With Norfolk Southern Over East Palestine, OH, Train Disaster

MARY CHASTAIN MAY 23, 2024 7:00 PM

The EPA and DOJ reached a settlement with Norfolk Southern over the train derailment in East Palestine, OH, on February 3, 2023.

The derailment caused numerous chemical spills, wreaking havoc on the town and its people.

“No community should have to experience the trauma inflicted upon the residents of East Palestine,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “That’s why President Biden pledged from the beginning that his Administration would stand with the community every step of the way. Today’s enforcement action delivers on this commitment, ensures the cleanup is paid for by the company, and helps prevent another disaster like this from happening again. Because of this settlement, residents and first responders will have greater access to health services, trains will be safer and waterways will be cleaner.”

Norfolk doesn’t have to admit liability. The settlement states:

• Spend an estimated $235 million for all past and future costs, so that cleanup efforts can continue and the company, rather than taxpayers, covers the cost.
• Pay a $15 million civil penalty to resolve the alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
• Pay $25 million for a 20-year community health program that includes medical monitoring for qualified individuals and mental health services for individuals residing in affected counties – including those in Pennsylvania – as well as first responders who worked at the site, and a community facilitation plan to assist community members in using the benefits of the program.
• Spend approximately $15 million to implement long-term monitoring of groundwater and surface water for a period of 10 years.
• Pay $15 million for a private drinking water monitoring fund that will continue the existing private drinking water well monitoring program for 10 years.
• Implement a “waterways remediation plan,” with an estimated budget of $6 million, for projects in Leslie Run and Sulphur Run that will prioritize addressing historical pollution, reducing non-point source pollution through infrastructure upgrades and stormwater management projects, and restoring aquatic and riparian habitat.
• Pay $175,000 for natural resource damages, to be used by the United States to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the natural resources injured as a result of the derailment.

Officials didn’t finish the cleanup until October 2023, eight months after the derailment.

One resident told the media about the medical effects from the accident:

Courtney Miller, an East Palestine resident described her symptoms to Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, claiming she has “many issues.”“A lot of it is stomach pain, constant stomach pain. It feels like stabbing in my stomach,” she said. “I’ve had a shortness of breath, I’ve tried to go to the hospital a few times because of it, and they’re telling me that I don’t meet criteria.”Miller also described lesions on the right side of her face with pus oozing out.“I didn’t know if it was a chemical burn or if it was from the dioxins or why it’s only on the one side of my face and not the other,” she said.

Dioxin (also known as 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo para dioxin) is known to cause skin lesions.

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