Lawyers want East Palestine residents to wait for details of $600 million derailment settlement

The lawyers who negotiated a $600 million settlement with Norfolk Southern over that railroad's disastrous 2023 derailment in Ohio want residents to talk with them before deciding the historic deal isn't enough.

They said Wednesday that the settlement for everyone within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the East Palestine disaster is bigger than any derailment settlement ever made public, including the worst in recent memory when a crude oil train rolled out of control downhill, killing 47 people in Lac Megantic, Canada, in 2013.

Apocalyptic images from the derailment in the small town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border inspired calls for railroad safety reforms and exposed lasting fears for the community. Three days after a toxic mix of chemicals caught fire in the crash, officials unleashed a massive plume of black smoke over East Palestine when they blew open five tank cars of vinyl chloride and burned the chemicals because they feared an explosion.

On Wednesday, the lawyers moved to address residents' fears that the settlement wasn't enough, saying compensation would vary based on the severity of the derailment's impact on each person. Several residents said after the settlement was announced Tuesday that they worried the money, once divided among many, wouldn't be enough to cover potential future health care costs should they develop cancer later.