The Associated Press’ Josh Funk
In order to continue their appeal for greater compensation and more information about the pollution, residents contesting Norfolk Southern’s $600 million settlement for the tragic East Palestine train collision have requested a judge to overturn a judge’s order ordering them to post a $850,000 bail.
Although the arrangement was accepted by a judge in September, the appeal has put about $300 million of the settlement on hold. The residents of the holdout are pleading with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to prevent them from having to pay the hefty amount required to pursue their claims related to the fire and derailment that occurred in February 2023.
Even though $18 million has already been set aside to cover costs, class-action lawyers who negotiated with Norfolk Southern have stated that the appeal will result in significant administrative costs for the company when it comes to paying person injury payments to individuals who lived or worked within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the derailment site.
Eleven vehicles carrying hazardous chemicals were involved in the freight train derailment in the Ohio community close to the Pennsylvania state line. Residents of the area were evacuated, and a few days later, officials, concerned about an uncontrolled explosion, purposefully burned and discharged toxic vinyl chloride from five rail carriages, causing black smoke and flames to rise into the air.
According to lawyer David Graham, his clients are pursuing the appeal because they feel the settlement falls short of providing adequate compensation for potential long-term health consequences. They want to know what the lawyers found during their investigation so they can better assess the dangers, as they are concerned that the toxins may cause cancer and other severe illnesses in the future.
Graham declared, “We’re not intimidated and we’re not going anywhere.”
Residents and some of the doctors studying the health effects of the train derailment express concern about the health effects of prolonged exposure to low levels of chemicals, despite the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s statement that toxic levels of chemicals haven’t been found in the community since shortly after the derailment.
FILE – At midday on February 4, 2023, parts of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the night before near East Palestine, Ohio, are still burning in this drone-captured image. (Gene J. Puskar, File/AP Photo)Puskar, Gene, AP File
Separately, the class action lawyers promised to keep the material confidential as part of the settlement, so they have declined to share what their own testing expert found during his visit to the community.
The business managing the settlement has started allocating $120 million for personal injury claims, even as the appeal is still pending. For months, many locals have been waiting for formal letters outlining their payout amounts.
Last summer, individuals who lived within two miles (3 kilometers) of the site were offered up to $25,000 per person for personal injury by the class-action attorneys, who were paid $162 million for their efforts on the case. However, residents who accepted that money forfeited their right to sue in the future if they did have health issues.
Dozens of railcars smashed off the rails at that time, leaking their poisonous contents and igniting. Three days later, officials chose to blow open five vinyl chloride tank cars and burn their contents, which investigators ultimately concluded was unnecessary, worsening the disaster.
Due to the appeal, the primary property damage compensation of up to $75,000 per home have been put on hold. As residents move farther away from the derailment site, the amounts they are supposed to get from the settlement progressively drop, reaching only a few hundred dollars at the farthest limits.
Some households have complained online that they are occasionally thousands less than what was promised last summer after receiving determination letters regarding the payments. According to other posts, the amounts are precisely as suggested.
The official formula determining the amount each person would receive was not revealed until after the settlement was authorized, despite the fact that the class-action attorneys consistently stressed the greatest possible compensation in their community meetings.
According to the official online formula, people had to have gone back to their homes prior to the evacuation order being removed on February 8, 2023, in order to be eligible for a full reward. They would only be entitled for half of the settlement sum they might receive if they waited until the following day to return.
FILE – After a Norfolk Southern freight train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, cleanup is still ongoing, February 24, 2023. (File: Matt Freed/AP Photo)AP
A spokesman of the class-action lawyers stated that they had no one available to respond to inquiries before Wednesday, and representatives of the Kroll business, which is handling the settlement payments, did not reply on Tuesday.
Calls for reform were sparked by the East Palestine crash, which was the biggest train accident in ten years. In Congress, a later rail safety bill was blocked and never passed. Railroad safety records have not changed significantly despite the industry’s promises of adjustments, such as the addition of extra trackside detectors to assist identify flaws before they can lead to derailments.
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