CV NEWS FEED // Norfolk Southern Railway announced Tuesday that it agreed to award a $600 million settlement to residents of East Palestine, OH, over one year after one of its trains derailed, releasing thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals in the area.
FOX Business reported that the payout is to “resolve a class action lawsuit brought by residents and businesses impacted by the derailment.”
“If accepted by the court, the settlement will provide financial payments to members of the community and includes a voluntary program to compensate individuals for past, present and future injuries resulting from exposure to toxic chemicals,” FOX Business continued:
The settlement agreement would resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius of the derailment, and personal injury claims in a 10-mile radius.
It comes after Norfolk Southern already pledged more than $100 million in community assistance to East Palestine and surrounding areas in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
However, reports indicate that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seeks to treat such assistance money as taxable income.
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-OH, has remained adamant that the money the rail giant is paying to east Ohio residents should not be taxed.
“Norfolk Southern of course caused this disaster,” Vance, a Catholic, said in a recent statement. “They sent resources into the community, as they should.”
“But our tax law just doesn’t treat this the right way,” he noted. “So we need to adjust that tax law. It’s a minor fix but I think it’s something that would matter a great deal to the people of East Palestine.”
“There’s a good chance this is going to happen,” the senator added. “We’re working hard to make sure it does.”
Several east Ohioans stated that the settlement will not sufficiently cover all of their personal and families’ medical expenses which stem from exposure to the chemicals released by the February 2023 derailment.
East Palestine resident Eric Cozza said the announced payout from Norfolk Southern is “nowhere near my needs, let alone what the health effects are going to be 5 or 10 years down the road.”
Associated Press (AP) noted that Cozza “lived just three blocks from the derailment and had 47 family members living within a mile.”
Krissy Ferguson, also an East Palestine resident, agreed: “I just feel like we’ve been victimized over and over and over again.”
“We fought and we’re still fighting, she continued. “[C]ontamination is still flowing down the creeks. People are still sick.”
“I think people that had the power to fight took an easy way out,” Ferguson emphasized.
President Joe Biden did not visit East Palestine until February 16, 2024 – one year and 13 days after the derailment.
Many of the president’s critics claimed that Biden had purposely delayed a visit to the community due to the fact that it overwhelmingly voted against him in the 2020 presidential election.
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