A lawsuit alleging for the first time that people died due to the disastrous 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has been filed ahead of Monday's second anniversary of the toxic crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border amid a flurry of new litigation. On Monday, Vice President JD Vance is visiting the small community near the crash site that he used to represent as a senator, along with President Trump's newly confirmed head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin. The lawsuit announced Monday morning contains the first seven wrongful-death claims filed against the Norfolk Southern railroad, including the death of a 1-week-old baby, per the AP.
The complaint also alleges the railroad and its contractors botched the cleanup, while officials at the EPA and CDC signed off on it and failed to adequately warn residents about the health risks. Many of the other parties in the lawsuit cite lingering, unexplained health problems, along with concerns something more serious could develop. "Our clients want truth. They want transparency," attorney Kristina Baehr said about the roughly 750 people she represents. "They want to know what they were exposed to, which has been hidden from them. They want to know what happened and why it happened. And they want accountability." The suit provides some examples of the lingering effects on families, but it doesn't include details about the deaths.
At least nine other lawsuits were filed over the past week by individuals and businesses that argue the railroad's greed is to blame for the derailment, and that the $600 million class-action settlement doesn't offer nearly enough compensation nor sanction the railroad enough to spur them to prevent future derailments. The dollar amount represents only a small fraction of the $12.1 billion in revenue the railroad generated in each of the past two years. Some nearby residents have started to receive personal injury payments as part of the class-action settlement, but nearly half of the settlement remains on hold while some appeal for higher compensation and more information about the contamination. The main payments of up to $70,000 per household won't go out until the appeal is settled.
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