The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement valued at over $310 million with Norfolk Southern Railway Company holding the company accountable for addressing and paying for the damage caused by the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine.
If the settlement is approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Norfolk Southern will be required to take measures to improve rail safety, pay for health monitoring and mental health services for the surrounding communities, fund long-term environmental monitoring, pay a $15 million civil penalty, and take other actions to protect nearby waterways and drinking water resources.
Together with other response costs and rail safety enhancements, Norfolk Southern estimates that it will spend more than $1 billion to address the contamination and other harms caused by the East Palestine derailment and improve rail safety and operations.
“No community should have to experience the trauma inflicted upon the residents of East Palestine,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said. “That’s why President Biden pledged from the beginning that his Administration would stand with the community every step of the way. Today’s enforcement action delivers on this commitment, ensures the cleanup is paid for by the company, and helps prevent another disaster like this from happening again. Because of this settlement, residents and first responders will have greater access to health services, trains will be safer, and waterways will be cleaner.”
“The President issued an executive order which promised to address the disaster’s long-term effects and to hold Norfolk Southern responsible for its train derailing and the burning of hazardous chemicals in East Palestine. This settlement helps fulfill that promise,” Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said.. “Importantly, those who will most directly benefit from this settlement are those who were most directly affected by the disaster. And the rail safety commitments will help prevent future catastrophic railway events.”
In total, Norfolk Southern estimates that it will spend more than $1 billion to address the contamination caused by the East Palestine derailment and improve rail safety and operations. The amount includes this settlement with the United States valued at over $310 million, as well as around $780 million in environmental response costs incurred by Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern has estimated its costs since the derailment will exceed $200 million in rail safety enhancements, including those required by this settlement.
What has Norfolk Southern agreed to do?
Under the settlement, Norfolk Southern has agreed to:
- Spend an estimated $235 million for all past and future costs, so that cleanup efforts can continue and the company, rather than taxpayers, covers the cost.
- Pay a $15 million civil penalty to resolve the alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
- Pay $25 million for a 20-year community health program that includes medical monitoring for qualified individuals, mental health services for individuals residing in affected counties as well as first responders who worked at the site, and a community facilitation plan to assist community members in using the benefits of the program.
- Spend approximately $15 million to implement long-term monitoring of groundwater and surface water for a period of 10 years.
- Pay $15 million for a private drinking water monitoring fund that will continue the existing private drinking water well monitoring program for 10 years.
- Implement a “waterways remediation plan,” with an estimated budget of $6 million, for projects in Leslie Run and Sulphur Run that will prioritize addressing historical pollution, reducing non-point source pollution through infrastructure upgrades and stormwater management projects, and restoring aquatic and riparian habitat; and
- Pay $175,000 for natural resource damages, to be used by the United States to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the natural resources injured as a result of the derailment.
Statement from JD Vance and Dave Yost
Senator JD Vance and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost issued the following joint statement to express their concern that the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently announced settlement with Norfolk Southern could severely undercompensate the people of East Palestine. The DOJ’s announcement comes before the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was allowed to complete its investigation into the circumstances leading up to the derailment and the decision-making process which resulted in the “vent and burn” of derailed tanker cars.
“This federal settlement, reached prior to the completion of the NTSB’s investigation, risks undercompensating the residents of East Palestine,” Senator Vance and Attorney General Yost said. “The Department of Justice would have better served East Palestine and surrounding communities by negotiating against Norfolk Southern armed with all relevant facts surrounding the disaster—facts which can only be revealed by the NTSB. The residents of East Palestine deserve full compensation to account for the hardships they have faced in the months since the derailment, but they also deserve the full truth about why the derailment and vent and burn occurred. With its decision to reach a settlement now, the DOJ may have sacrificed its opportunity to use the NTSB’s findings to impose maximum leverage on those responsible for any potential wrongdoing. We are reviewing the now-public settlement proposal, but with so much unknown at this time, it is difficult to assess its impact. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure those impacted by the derailment are made whole and to ensure anyone responsible for wrongdoing is held accountable.”
The Department of Justice has closely guarded the details of this settlement and did not make co-plaintiffs, including the State of Ohio, aware of crucial details before its public release today. This problem deserves more time and consideration as Ohio was only presented with this agreement today. Ohio, the state which bore the brunt of the damage caused by this derailment, should have been consulted on the details of the resulting settlement. It is not known why the DOJ failed to follow standard practice to do so.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Above statement courtesy of a press release from Attorney General Dave Yost)
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This story was originally published May 23, 2024 at 11:30 AM