Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement for a fiery February 2023 train derailment in Ohio, but residents worry the money won’t go far enough to cover future health needs. More than three dozen of the freight train’s 149 cars derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine, a town of almost 5,000 residents near the Pennsylvania state line. Several cars spilled a cocktail of hazardous materials that caught fire. Three days later, officials, fearing an explosion, blew open five tank cars filled with vinyl chloride and burned the toxic chemical — sending thick, black plumes of smoke into the air. More than a year later residents still complain about respiratory problems, rashes and nosebleeds, but the greater concern may come later, as people fear developing cancer because of the chemicals they were exposed to. The settlement does not include or constitute any admission of liability, wrongdoing or fault on the part of the company.
