Ohio AG hears from East Palestine residents
EAST PALESTINE — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost pulled no punches during a town hall held at East Palestine High School on Saturday to discuss the pending settlement between the federal government and Norfolk Southern.
“Candidly, I am a little irritated with the federal government moving so quickly on their side of this,” Yost said. “They are settling the lion’s share of these claims and leaving me with a little less leverage.”
Yost explained that while the State of Ohio’s lawsuit against Norfolk Southern remains, “many of the claims Ohio brought against the railroad the federal government took over” as its right under federal law. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a $310 million settlement had been reached between Norfolk Southern and the federal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Yost immediately criticized the decision to settle without the final findings from the National Transportation Safety Board. He reiterated those concerns during Saturday’s community discussion.
“The investigators still haven’t put out their report yet about why this happened, and I don’t for the life of me know why they negated a settlement before they had seen the NTSB report,” Yost said. ” I certainly wasn’t interested in doing that.”
The NTSB will vote on the final findings, probable cause, and recommendations during a public infield hearing in East Palestine on June 25. Without the NTSB’s final report, Yost said the State of Ohio “isn’t interested in settling”. Yost also said that he asked for an extension on the comment period regarding the federal settlement. The initial period was to expire on July 1. The deadline is now Aug. 2.
The community discussion was meant to gauge the public’s reaction to the U.S. Government’s settlement, direct whether or not Ohio will object to it in court and to help steer any negotiation the state may have with the railroad concerning its own lawsuit.
Yost also used the discussion as an opportunity to hear the community’s opinion of the $600 million class-action settlement, as well as the challenges those impacted by the rail disaster have and continue to face.
“We are here today for you to tell us what the federal government miss, what is the class-action missing and what you want the state to try to get,” he said. “There are some things we can require them to pay if we win under the law. There are a lot of other things they can agree to do in a settlement that if we go to court, we will never get, and one of those for example might be a future catastrophic health fund for what happens 20 years from now.”
Yost said there is no guarantee Norfolk Southern will agree to such a term but said it was one of things on the top of his list when it comes to settling on behalf of the state.
When given the chance to speak, residents, some overcome with emotions, overwhelmingly agreed that a health fund was a necessity as they described the health symptoms many are reportedly already experiencing. They also repeated their demands for more robust residential soil, air and water testing.
When it came to discussing the class action settlement, residents voiced frustration and anger. The $70,000 projected award for those living closest to the derailment they said will do nothing to restore their lives or remedy damages caused — especially when any derailment-related support previously received will be deducted from that amount. Temporary-housing assistance for some relocated during the remediation efforts have already exceeded any expected award. Residents who want to leave East Palestine said the settlement will not make that possible. Nearly all agreed, Norfolk Southern was getting off easy and said the agreement set a bad precedent that towns “poisoned by corporate greed and negligence could be bought off”. Residents also criticized the village government and both the state and federal EPA for “not protecting the residents,” a lack of transparency and a breakdown in communications with community members.
“Today, I’ve heard anger and I understand. I am deeply sorry for what you are going through,” Yost said. “I can’t make it all better but you have my commitment that we will use every tool in our toolbox to try to hold people accountable.”
The federal settlement does address some of the concerns voiced Saturday but still falls short in the public’s eye. It requires Norfolk Southern to pay a $15 million civil penalty to resolve the alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, $25 million for a 20-year community health program that includes medical monitoring for qualified individuals and mental health services for individuals residing in affected counties as well as first responders who worked at the site, $15 million to implement long-term monitoring of groundwater and surface water for a period of 10 years and an additional $15 million to fund a drinking water monitoring fund (both municipal and private wells) for 10 years.
Complete details of the settlement as well as directions to submit a public comment are available on the Department of Justice website at justice.gov. Residents wishing to comment can also follow links available on the EPA website at epa.gov/east-palestine-oh-train-derailment.