Nearly two years after a train derailment upended its community, East Palestine is set to receive more than $20 million to help recuperate from the chemical disaster.
A $22 million settlement between the town and Norfolk Southern was announced Monday to resolve all claims related to the Feb. 3, 2023 train derailment.
A faulty wheel bearing caused roughly 50 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train to derail near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border near East Palestine, Ohio, releasing hazardous chemicals into the air, soil and local waterways. The incident prompted a mass evacuation, and within a few days, Norfolk Southern carried out a vent and burn of toxic railcars that created a huge smoke plume.
Since the accident, Norfolk Southern has invested $13.5 million into infrastructure and other improvements in East Palestine. These funds have been used to replace fire and police equipment, upgrade the water treatment plant and renovate a historic train depot. The company has also committed $25 million in upgrades to the local park.
Linda Murphy, of East Palestine, said the settlement doesn’t address lingering health and environmental issues that have left the community divided.
With little detail provided about the settlement’s provisions, Ms. Murphy hopes that the village will be transparent about how the funds will be used moving forward. However, she remains skeptical that residents will be able to provide meaningful input.
“I don't think they care if we're happy,” she said. “I don't think they care if people feel safe, because if they did, that would have been something they could have addressed within the last two years. Caring about people's safety and well-being shouldn't take a $22 million check.”
She believes the settlement ultimately could create more distrust in the community, as many people see the investments from Norfolk Southern as “dirty money.”
“The whole unlimited gratitude that East Palestine has expressed to Norfolk Southern kind of makes your lip curl a little bit,” she said. “To some of us, it's just all a show.”
One major initiative originally promised by the railroad will no longer move forward under the new settlement. In a statement, Norfolk Southern and the municipality said they “mutually” agreed to cancel plans for a proposed regional safety training center, concluding it was “no longer feasible.”
Norfolk Southern will transfer the 15-acre site it had acquired for the project over to the community so it can be repurposed for other uses.
A spokesperson for the East Palestine municipality declined to provide comment on the settlement, and Norfolk Southern did not respond to a request for comment from the Post-Gazette on Tuesday.
Norfolk Southern had touted the safety center project as a “first of its kind, state-of-the-art” facility to train first responders on transportation emergencies. The company had planned to invest $20 million into the center and cover operating costs for 10 years, with the fire department set to relocate there.
Residents, including Ms. Murphy, are still awaiting the outcome of a $600 million class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern. The suit seeks compensation for property damage, health concerns and economic losses for people who live and work within a 20-mile radius of the derailment site.
An appeal has since delayed all property-related claims, and a judge’s order requires the residents challenging the suit to put up a $850,000 bond, according to the Associated Press.
For now, people who opted into the settlement can only claim money for personal injury claims, which were reserved for those who lived less than 10 miles from the derailment site.
While the town receives more checks from Norfolk Southern, Ms. Murphy thinks residents have been left behind. She has yet to receive money from the larger settlement.
“Is the village doing anything to give people who are concerned and having some lingering symptoms answers — no,” she said. “They're doing the exact opposite. They’re convincing people everything is good, it's better than it has ever been.”
Jami Wallace, who relocated her family nearly 20 miles away from East Palestine after the derailment, said she didn’t know the town had sued Norfolk Southern at all, adding to ongoing frustrations with municipal leadership over transparency and response to the derailment.
A separate federal settlement, pending a judge’s approval, requires Norfolk Southern to pay for drinking water monitoring and medical exams over the next 10 years. Ms. Wallace feels like East Palestine officials fell short in asking the railroad to make similar commitments to safeguard the village’s health and safety long term.
“It fits the narrative that the village has had since Day 1, which is economic recovery over human health,” Ms. Wallace said. “I just hope that, whatever they do with the money, they consult the people of this community.”
First Published: January 28, 2025, 11:53 p.m.
Updated: January 29, 2025, 5:42 p.m.