Frightened residents of East Palestine, Ohio, were forced to evacuate last year when a Norfolk Southern train derailed, spewing fire, smoke and toxic chemicals for days.
Norfolk Southern announced Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $600 million to settle dozens of lawsuits filed after a massive train derailment sent cars laden with chemicals careening off the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio, terrifying residents who were ordered to evacuate.
The settlement resolves all class-action claims by residents and businesses inside a 20-mile radius of the crash site. It also settles all personal injury claims within 10 miles, according to a summary of the agreement filed in court.
The deal was reached after three days of negotiations overseen by a former federal judge.
"This resolution comes shortly after the one-year anniversary of the disaster and will provide substantial compensation to all affected residents, property owners, employees and businesses," said a statement released Tuesday by attorneys for the plaintiffs.
The agreement is subject to court approval. A hearing on that is scheduled for later this month. The settlement does not acknowledge any liability or wrongdoing by the railroad carrier.
But some residents still worry the amount is not enough to cover the financial costs of losing their homes, their belongings and physical problems that have affected them since the derailment unleashed fires, an explosion, and toxic fumes in their area.
"I’m not sure what outcome to hope for because it's hard to put a dollar amount on what we lost," former East Palestine resident Maura Todd tells Inside Edition Digital Tuesday.
"I just hope that this never happens again, anywhere, to anyone," she says. Todd and her husband, son and dogs fled their home in February 2023 after the governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania ordered residents to leave.
The family loaded the car with some clothes and important papers and headed to Kentucky, where they are living with friends. They've lost their home and everything in it, Todd said.
The evacuation orders warned "anyone who remains in the ... impacted area is at a high risk of severe injury, including skin burns and serious lung damage.”
On Tuesday, Todd said her family "will probably not ever go back to East Palestine because we don’t think it’s safe to be there. It’s too painful to think about seeing the places that we enjoyed so much, knowing that it’s not safe to be there."
“This is another promise kept by Norfolk Southern to make it right for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding communities,” the company said in a statement about the proposed settlement.
After the derailment, residents said toxic chemicals released from the crash sickened and killed their animals. Townspeople reported rashes, coughing, and a sickening smell in and around their homes.
Environmental officials reported thousands of fish died from the toxic plume and homeowners feared their wells were ruined.
Last year, a judge consolidated 31 civil suits against Norfolk Southern into a single case. The rail operator earlier agreed to provide $104 million in aid to the community. The $600 million settlement would be in addition to that amount.
The settlement would award payments to those affected, and includes a voluntary program to compensate individuals for past, present and future injuries caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs.
“The derailment and subsequent fire never should have happened, but the upcoming months will bring financial compensation to those impacted," said one of the residents' lawyers.
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash. The rail carrier still faces a lawsuit filed by the Ohio attorney general for environmental damage caused by the derailment.
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