Pennsylvania Says U.S. Deal With Norfolk Southern Falls Short

Pennsylvania officials contend that a $310 million federal government settlement reached with Norfolk Southern Railway Co. over the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio does not adequately meet the needs of Pennsylvanians affected by the tragedy.

In a letter to federal authorities, Attorney General Michelle Henry and Governor Josh Shapiro have urged that the final consent decree include additional health care funding to benefit Pennsylvanians who were impacted by the event that took place at the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, and stricter regulation of Norfolk Southern’s future operations.

“This catastrophic crash had wide-ranging impacts on many Pennsylvania residents and workers, and Norfolk Southern must remedy these impacts,” Henry said. “As a result of this incident, many Pennsylvanians are in financial hardship and were physically harmed — the full extent of those negative health impacts still to be seen — and they deserve to be made whole, now and in the future.”

On May 23 the Justice Department (DOJ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement valued at over $310 million with Norfolk Southern to pay for the damage caused by the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment. 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.

But Pennsylvania officials say the proposal does not go far enough. In the response letter dated August 2, the deadline for comments, AG Henry points to three main concerns:

Inadequate health care funding for present and future health impacts related to the toxic plumes of contaminants that filled our air following the derailment. Many of the contaminants released into the environment immediately after the derailment and resulting from the vent and burn of five tank cars were extremely hazardous. The DOJ proposed consent decree does not include a requirement that the railroad pay for health care treatment costs of those individuals for whom exposures are substantially likely to be a significant factor in aggravating, contributing to or causing an individual’s health condition. The letter says any such costs should be borne by Norfolk Southern – not by the innocent victims.

Inadequate range of applicability for health and environmental monitoring provisions. The medical monitoring provisions of the proposed consent decree apply to a definition of “qualified individuals” that excludes many Pennsylvania residents who were adversely impacted by the derailment and its aftermath, according to the letter. NSR health monitoring requirements should include Pennsylvania residents and workers living/working within a 20 mile radius of the derailment. Likewise, the environmental monitoring must not be limited to only a 2-mile, or other limited, radius, the attomey general maintains.

Failure to incorporate recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board in its final report of the incident. Henry maintains that Norfolk Souther should be required to implement all relevant recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board from its final report on the derailment including those on inspections but the DOJ proposal does not require this.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the East Palestine derailment was caused by an overheating bearing on one of the cars on the train that wasn’t detected soon enough by the network of detectors the railroad has alongside the tracks. NTSB also found that the emergency responders did not have common radio channels, railcar placards posted about fire exposure were illegible, and there were delays in transmitting information to emergency responders.

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 derailment and to upgrade rail safety.

The railroad company has also separately agreed to a $600 million proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit addressing personal injury claims from residents and businesses affected by the derailment.

Congress has been considering but not yet fully acted upon legislation requiring railroad safety reforms.

Topics USA Pennsylvania