Norfolk Southern to pay $600M in Ohio train derailment lawsuit

Norfolk Southern announced Tuesday that it has agreed to pay $600 million to settle a class-action lawsuit after a 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, caused a fire and spilled chemicals.

The agreement, if approved by a court, will resolve all class-action claims within a 20-mile radius of the derailment site and personal injury claims within 10 miles of the site, a news release from the railroad said. The company said the settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing.

In February 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, a village near the Pennsylvania border that is home to about 4,800 people. Thirty-eight of the general merchandise train’s railcars, including 11 tank cars carrying hazardous chemicals that caught fire, derailed, a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board investigation found. Up to 2,000 residents were evacuated.

“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 residing, owning or otherwise having a legal interest in property, working, owning or operating a business for damages resulting from the derailment and release of chemicals,” attorneys for plaintiffs said in a statement.