East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment & Chemical Spill Lawsuit

September 1st, 2023:

Residents of East Palestine have received certified letters from Norfolk Southern, requesting information about illnesses and injuries related to the train derailment. The letters also seek details about any medical treatment received and personal information.

Norfolk Southern claims that federal law mandates these letters to report possible injuries to the Federal Railroad Administration, and they were sent only to individuals who had previously submitted medical bills at the Norfolk Southern Family Assistance Center. Despite this, concerns about confidentiality and skepticism persist among recipients, with some feeling that the information could be used against them in future legal proceedings.

August 1st, 2023: 

Norfolk Southern’s costs related to the Ohio train derailment in February have escalated to $803 million, more than double the initial amount.

The company incurred an additional $416 million charge in the second quarter, primarily due to the cleanup of hazardous chemicals released during the fiery incident.

The costs also encompass legal fees and financial assistance to the affected community.

The $803 million estimate does not cover long-term health effects, home value drops, or drinking water issues, which are still under negotiation.

Norfolk Southern expects to recover some costs from insurance and lawsuits against other involved companies

The incident resulted in a significant drop in the railroad’s profit, down to $356 million in the second quarter.

June 16th, 2023:

In anticipation of the upcoming two-day investigative hearing on the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed the lineup of organizations that will be providing witnesses.

Scheduled for June 22nd and 23rd, the hearing is a crucial component of the ongoing investigation into the derailment on February 3rd and its repercussions.

Representatives from the following entities will be present at the hearing:

• Association of American Railroads
• Beaver County Emergency Services
• Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
• Carroll Applied Science, LLC
• East Liverpool Fire Department
• East Palestine Fire Department
• East Palestine Police Department
• ESi
• Federal Railroad Administration
• Midland Manufacturing
• Norfolk Southern
• OxyVinyls
• Ohio National Guard
• Ohio Department of Public Safety
• Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency
• Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
• Specialized Professional Services, Inc.
• Specialized Response Solutions
• Transportation Communications Union/IAM
• Trinity Rail
• University Transportation Center for Railway Safety, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

While the NTSB hearing will be livestreamed for the public, a community meeting open to all will take place at East Palestine High School on Wednesday, June 21st.

The meeting will include residents of East Palestine and individuals from neighboring communities as well as Pennsylvania residents living near the site of the derailment.

May 6th, 2023:

It was reported that The Sulphur Run, a stream affected by a recent incident, has shown positive water quality results through surface water sampling.

Consequently, most of the stream treatment equipment has been removed, and the cleaning of sediment has significantly improved water quality while reducing contaminants.

Fish have returned to areas that previously lacked aquatic life.

Ongoing efforts continue to evaluate and address sediment issues.

In Leslie Run, plans are in motion to clean sediment after a detailed survey by aquatic scientists to ensure minimal harm to the ecosystem.

Hazardous waste removal in East Palestine has seen the transportation of approximately 14.8 million gallons of liquid wastewater and the removal of 37,300 tons of excavated soil.

Remediation efforts are ongoing to address the remaining hazardous waste.

April 7th, 2023:

Four attorneys were appointed to lead the legal battle over the East Palestine derailment.

A judge in Ohio consolidated 31 lawsuits across the four attorneys.

One lawyer in Pittsburgh said this consolidation will benefit both the public and the clients.

During this same time period, another local school district filed a lawsuit alleging being impacted by the derailment.

The school district was roughly 15 miles away from the incident, calling the railroad negligent.

The school district claimed the derailment exposed residents and buildings to a dangerous mix of toxic chemicals.

These school district suits will most likely not be a part of the consolidated lawsuits.

March 1st, 2023:

Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine visited East Palestine to see the ongoing hazardous waste removal process.

They visited the derailment site and the confluence of Leslie Run and Sulphur Run to get an update on the surface water testing and cleanup.

The Ohio EPA reported that approximately 1.8 million gallons of liquid wastewater and 700 tons of solid waste have been hauled out of East Palestine to be disposed of through deep well injection, incineration, or landfill.

Governor DeWine announced the need for increased train derailment response training for first responders, which the CEOs of both Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads were in favor of working with the State of Ohio.

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission has up to $800,000 in grant funding available to help Ohio’s smaller fire departments pay for critically important training.

Senators of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Missouri introduced the Railway Safety Act of 2023, which would:

• Require rail carriers to give advance notice to state emergency response officials before running trains carrying hazardous materials;
• Mandate trains run with at least two-person crews;
• Require better monitoring of railcar wheel bearings; and
• Increase penalties for wrongdoing in the industry.

Other updates include track removal plan, municipal water testing, sediment washing, and private well sampling.

March 2nd, 2023:

Union leaders have reported that rail workers clearing a crash site in East Palestine, Ohio are falling ill after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and leaked toxic chemicals last month.

Twelve union leaders met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Railroad Administration administrator Amit Bose to discuss the incident, which threatened to explode and destroy a small Ohio town.

The hazardous materials were drained from the train cars in a controlled burn, creating a massive cloud of toxic gas.

March 4th, 2023:

Contaminated soil from the site of the Ohio train wreck is being sent to an incinerator with a history of clean air violations.

Critics are concerned that the chemicals being removed from the ground will be redistributed across the region.

This plan has been criticized by public health advocates, local residents, and a former EPA official.

Some of the contaminants that residents and chemical experts fear are in the waste, like dioxins and PFAS, haven’t been tested for by the EPA, and they are difficult or impossible to incinerate.

March 8th, 2023:

The Ohio EPA has launched a public dashboard to report surface water testing results from samples collected in area creeks and rivers affected by the train derailment.

The dashboard shows 20 surface water sampling locations and test results for vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, benzene, and 2-butoxyethanol.

Residents are advised to avoid contact with the contaminated water in the derailment area.

Symptoms of headache, anxiety, coughing, fatigue/tiredness, irritation, pain, and burning of the skin continue to be the most common reported by residents in the East Palestine area who have completed an After Chemical Exposure (ACE) survey.

Governor DeWine announced that Norfolk Southern has agreed to create a new first responder training center and expand its Operation Awareness & Response (OAR) program to improve and expand firefighter training.

On March 10th, 2023:

There is a large amount of contaminated soil that needs to be removed from East Palestine, and while approximately 2,980 tons have been removed, around 24,400 tons still remain.

Governor DeWine and the Ohio EPA are concerned about the threats of future contamination and injury to public health until the soil is removed.

The U.S. EPA is requiring pre-approval for all disposal and transport of contaminated soil and liquids, which is an additional step beyond all other safety management regulations required under RCRA and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Governor DeWine is calling on the U.S. EPA and Norfolk Southern to identify and authorize more sites to take this waste immediately.

February 5th, 2023:

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued a call for all remaining residents in the area to evacuate due to a rail car being at risk of exploding.

The controlled release and burn of vinyl chloride resulted in a dark plume rising over East Palestine, Ohio.

February 6th, 2023:

DeWine and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro ordered the immediate evacuation of any remaining residents.

Norfolk Southern executed a controlled release and burn of vinyl chloride in five cars around 3:30 p.m. to prevent an explosion.

February 8th, 2023:

DeWine and Shapiro announced that East Palestine residents could safely return home.

However, there have been reports of people experiencing a burning sensation in their eyes, animals falling ill, and a strong odor lingering in the town.

February 9th, 2023:

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been monitoring the air in East Palestine since the recent train derailment and chemical spill.

Air quality samples in the area have consistently shown readings below safety screening levels for contaminants.

The EPA has also investigated a complaint of odors but found no contaminants above detection limits.

Additionally, the EPA and Ohio EPA found spilled materials in Sulphur Run and provided assistance to health departments in developing residential screening procedures.

February 10th, 2023:

Norfolk Southern offered an “inconvenience fee” to those who were forced to leave during mandatory evacuation.

Some attorneys expressed wariness of how this fee will impact future claims.

February 13th, 2023:

It was reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been conducting voluntary home screenings to monitor environmental conditions in East Palestine and nearby towns.

They found no traces of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride, which is released by burning vinyl chloride, in 291 of the homes screened, with 181 homes yet to be screened.

The EPA has assured residents that the area’s drinking water is safe based on their monitoring results.

February 15th, 2023:

A lawsuit was filed against Norfolk Southern on behalf of two women.

Both women claim that they’ve been exposed to “high level of toxic chemicals.

The lawsuit states that Norfolk Southern, local and state authorities, made the situation worse by igniting “a 1 million pound plus chemical burn it that burned for days”, sending large plumes of black smoke over East Palestine and other nearby areas.

February 16th, 2023:

A new federal lawsuit states that Norfolk Southern led to 1,109,400 pounds of vinyl chloride into the environment, which could lead to cancer.

The claim is that the train derailment led to Norfolk Southern releasing more vinyl chloride in a week than all industrial emitters in 2021.

February 19th, 2023:

Norfolk Southern announced that its CEO, Alan Shaw, has issued a statement promising to compensate residents for the harm caused and assist with the clean-up of the toxic contamination.

The company has set up a $1 million community support fund to aid affected residents and referred to it as an initial payment to assist the community in its recovery efforts.

February 22nd, 2023:

The Ohio EPA will continue to independently test East Palestine’s municipal water once a week, although last week’s test results confirmed that the water was free from contaminants associated with the derailment.

The Columbiana County Health Department has sampled 74 private wells in the area, with final testing results pending, and residents who use private wells are advised to drink bottled water until results are returned.

Indoor and outdoor air monitoring in the area has not detected any contaminants associated with the derailment.

Aeration is still underway on Sulphur Run to treat contamination, and the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission is no longer detecting contaminates related to the derailment in the Ohio River.

About 4,588 cubic yards of contaminated soil have been removed from the derailment site so far.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has created a team to handle workers’ compensation claims related to the derailment.

February 25th, 2023:

The U.S. EPA has temporarily stopped the removal of hazardous waste from the site of the derailment due to concerns over where the contaminated materials would be disposed of.

Norfolk Southern has contracted licensed hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities in Texas and Michigan to handle the waste from the derailment.

Of the 20 truckloads of hazardous solid waste removed from the site, 15 truckloads have been disposed of in Michigan and five truckloads have been returned to East Palestine.

The licensed hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility in Texas will dispose of liquid waste that has been transported out of East Palestine.

The Ohio EPA is installing four monitoring wells to sample groundwater near East Palestine’s municipal water supply as a precaution, with results expected within seven days.