Norfolk Southern agrees to $600M settlement in fiery Ohio derailment. Locals fear it’s not enough

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement for a fiery February 2023 train derailment in Ohio, but residents worry the money not only won’t go far enough to cover future health needs that could be tremendous but also won't amount to much once divvied up.

“It’s not nowhere near my needs, let alone what the health effects are going to be five or 10 years down the road,” said Eric Cozza, who lived just three blocks from the derailment and had 47 family members living within a mile (1.61 kilometers).

More than three dozen of the freight train's 149 cars derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine, a town of almost 5,000 residents near the Pennsylvania state line. Several cars spilled a cocktail of hazardous materials that caught fire. Three days later, officials, fearing an explosion, blew open five tankcars filled with vinyl chloride and burned the toxic chemical — sending thick, black plumes of smoke into the air. Some 1,500 to 2,000 residents were evacuated.

Norfolk Southern said the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile (32-kilometer) radius of the derailment and, for residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius of the derailment.

The area includes East Palestine and people who evacuated, as well as several other larger towns.

The settlement, which doesn’t include or constitute any admission of liability, wrongdoing or fault, represents only a small slice of the $3 billion in revenue Norfolk Southern generated just in the first three months of this year. The railroad said that even after the settlement it still made a $213 million profit in the quarter.

East Palestine resident Krissy Ferguson called the settlement a “heart-wrenching day.”

“I just feel like we’ve been victimized over and over and over again,” she said. “We fought and we’re still fighting. And contamination is still flowing down the creeks. People are still sick. And I think people that had the power to fight took an easy way out.”

More than a year later residents still complain about respiratory problems and unexplained rashes and nosebleeds, but the greater fear is that people will develop cancer or other serious conditions because of the chemicals they were exposed to. Researchers have only begun to work on determining the lasting repercussions of the derailment.

The company said Tuesday that individuals and businesses will be able to use compensation from the settlement in any manner they see fit.

The settlement is expected to be submitted for preliminary approval to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio this month. Payments could begin to arrive by the end of the year, subject to final court approval.

Norfolk Southern has already spent more than $1.1 billion on its response to the derailment, including more than $104 million in direct aid to East Palestine and its residents. Partly because Norfolk Southern is paying for the cleanup, President Joe Biden has never declared a disaster in the town, which remains a sore point for many.

The railroad has promised to create a fund to help pay for the long-term health needs of the community, but that hasn’t been finalized yet.

The plaintiffs' attorneys said the deal follows a year of intense investigation and should provide meaningful relief to residents.

Still, residents like Misti Allison have many unanswered questions.

“What goes through my head is, after all the lawyers are paid and the legal fees are accounted for, how much funding will be provided for families? And is that going to be enough for any of these potential damages moving forward?” she said.

Jami Wallace, too, worries about having a settlement without knowing the long-term impact of the derailment.

“I would really like to see the numbers because in my opinion, taking a plea deal only is in the best interest of the attorneys,” she said. “They’re all going to get their money. But we’re the residents that are still going to be left to suffer.”

Cozza said he spent about $8,000 to move out of town and that — along with medical bills and the cost of replacing his contaminated belongings — exhausted what little savings he had. And he can't put a price on the 10-year relationship he lost or the way his extended family was scattered after the derailment.

The CEO of Threshold Residential, one of the biggest employers in town, estimates that his business has lost well over $100,000.

Last week federal officials said that the aftermath of the train derailment doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency because widespread health problems and ongoing chemical exposure haven’t been documented, contrasting residents' reports.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board recently said the agency’s investigation showed that venting and burning of the vinyl chloride was unnecessary because the producer of the chemical ascertained that no dangerous reaction occurred inside the tank cars. Officials who made the decision — Ohio’s governor and the local fire chief leading the response — have said they were never told that.

The NTSB’s full investigation into the cause of the derailment won’t be complete until June, but the agency has said that an overheating wheel bearing on one of the railcars, which wasn’t detected in time by a trackside sensor, likely caused the crash.

The EPA has said cleanup in East Palestine is expected to be completed this year.

The railroad announced preliminary first-quarter earnings of 23 cents per share Tuesday, which reflects the cost of the $600 million settlement. Without the settlement and some other one-time costs, the railroad said it would have made $2.39 per share.

Railroad CEO Alan Shaw, who is fighting for his job against an activist investor aiming to overhaul the railroad's operations, said Norfolk Southern is “becoming a more productive and efficient railroad” but acknowledged there is more work to do.

Ancora Holdings is trying to persuade investors to support its nominees for Norfolk Southern's board and its plan to replace Shaw and the rest of the management team at the railroad's May 9 annual meeting. Ancora says the company's profits have lagged behind the other major freight railroads for years and the investors question Shaw's leadership.

The railroad said that in addition to the settlement, its results were hurt by $91 million in unusual expenses including money it is spending to fight back against Ancora, management layoffs and the $25 million it gave to CPKC last month for the right to hire one of that railroad's executives to be Norfolk Southern's new chief operating officer.

The railroad said Tuesday that even though volume was up 4% during the first quarter, company revenue fell by 4% because of lower fuel surcharge revenue and changes in the mix of shipments it handled to include more containers of imported goods that railroads get paid less to deliver than other commodities.

Shares of Norfolk Southern Corp., based in Atlanta, were up slightly through the day after a flat start following the settlement announcement.

Associated Press writer Brooke Schultz contributed to this report from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Michelle Chapman contributed from New York.

FILE - This photo taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk and Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio are still on fire at mid-day Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - A view of the scene Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3, in East Palestine, Ohio. On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)

FILE - Portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the night before burn in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2023. On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of the controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - Sulphur Run, right, flows into Leslie Run in East Palestine, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. Daily life largely returned to normal for residents of East Palestine, Ohio, months after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled a cocktail of hazardous chemicals that caught fire a year ago. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Debris from a Norfolk Southern freight train lies scattered and burning along the tracks on Feb. 4, 2023, the day after it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Ryan Mountcastle and Jorge Mateo each homered and drove in two runs to lift the Baltimore Orioles to a series-deciding 7-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday.

Ryan McKenna also connected and Jordan Westburg’s two-run triple helped the Orioles complete a four-run fifth to chase Yankees starter Carlos Rodón (2-2) and secure a third win of the four-game set, the first this season between likely AL East contenders.

Righty Kyle Bradish allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings in his first start after beginning the season on the 15-day injured list with a UCL strain. Keegan Akin (1-0) retired four batters while allowing a run in middle relief.

“That might've been our best pitched series honestly,” said Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde, whose staff allowed six runs across those games. “From the starts we got to how the bullpen pitched against a really good offense.”

Gleyber Torres hit his first home run but also made the Yankees’ third error of the series to help extend the game’s decisive inning.

“He's got to secure the ball,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Torres, who dropped the ball trying to barehand shortstop Anthony Volpe's feed on a potential double play. “He's made that play a lot. Didn't in that spot.”

Rodón yielded all seven Baltimore runs — six earned — on eight hits in his shortest outing of 2024.

He escaped his bases-loaded, no-out jam in the second before Mountcastle’s solo shot in the third, and Mateo’s and McKenna’s in the fourth.

“Just being aggressive,” McKenna said of the Orioles' adjustments. “I think guys started taking pitchers' pitches against him, started barrelling up some more.”

After Mountcastle singled in another run in the fifth, Anthony Santander grounded the potential double-play ball that Torres' gaffe turned into a two-on, none-out situation.

A visit from pitching coach Matt Blake followed, but Westburg drove Rodón’s 2-1 slider down the middle to the base of the wall in left-center to plate both runners, then came home on Mateo’s sacrifice fly off newly entered reliever Ron Marinaccio.

“I thought we had (Adley) Rutschman struck out, and then we don't turn the double play there,” Boone said of the inning.

Bradish threw 51 of 84 pitches for strikes in his return from a rehab assignment that ended more quickly than some expected.

The fourth-place finisher in the 2023 AL Cy Young vote escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the first and left with runners on the corners in the fifth before Akin induced Anthony Rizzo into a popout to short.

“I think this clubhouse is pretty excited to get someone of that caliber back on the field,” Orioles catcher James McCann said.

Yankees: LF Alex Verdugo returned to the lineup and batted sixth after missing three games on the paternity list. ... Optioned C Carlos Narvaez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Orioles: Activated Bradish and designated RHP Yohan Ramirez. ... With Bradish making Thursday's start, LHP John Means (forearm strain) will make his first start of the season on Saturday after he was activated from the injured list on Wednesday. ... OF Austin Hays (left calf strain) took batting practice and did on-field drills and could go on a rehab assignment soon, Hyde said.

Yankees: RHP Marcus Stroman (2-1, 3.69) looks to rebound from a four-inning outing — his shortest of the season — in the opener of a six-game homestand Friday night against Detroit.

Orioles: RHP Cole Irvin (2-1, 3.49) tries to extend his stretch of 14 1/3 scoreless innings when Baltimore begins a five-game road trip at Cincinnati on Friday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Baltimore Orioles' Ryan Mountcastle, left, celebrates his home run as New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells looks on at right, during the third inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles' Jorge Mateo, left, celebrates his home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game as New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells looks on at lower right, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles' Ryan McKenna, left, celebrates his home run with Gunnar Henderson, right, during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles' Jorge Mateo celebrates his home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto motions towards the outfield during his at-bat in the third inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. Orioles catcher James McCann is at left. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles' Jordan Westburg (11) gestures at third base after he drove in two runs with a triple during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. Orioles third base coach Tony Mansolino is at left. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles' Adley Rutschman (35) is greeted by Anthony Santander, left, after he scored on a single by Ryan Mountcastle during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, left, pulls starting pitcher Carlos Rodon, second from left, during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon walks back to the dugout after he was pulled during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

New York Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo prepares to make a catch on a sacrifice fly by Baltimore Orioles' Jorge Mateo during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)