by George Hettling
Norfolk Southern and the US government have agreed to a $15 million fine in a settlement for the East Palestine, OH train wreck and fire in February last year.
Many East Palestine residents feel this is simply a slap on the wrist for the company. “Honestly, no amount can ever make this right, but it should be at least enough to hurt them a little bit. I’m sure that’s not going to hurt their bottom line at all,” East Palestine resident Jami Wallace said in an interview with PBS News.
Train derailments have been increasing in recent years as the train monopolies have created an industry standard of 1-3 mile long trains manned by only two employees. The railroad companies want to go further and reduce this to one employee per train, and have only been held back by union contracts mandating a two-person staff. In 2022, there were an average of 3 train derailments per day.
A government study released this week found contamination from the East Palestine train wreck as far away as Maine, covering an area of 16 states, most of the Great Lakes, and parts of Canada. The researchers initially expected only a pollution radius of 50 miles.
Norfolk Southern’s annual profit for 2023 was over $7.9 billion. In total, the company paid about $1.7 billion as a result of the train wreck. About $1 billion of this will be investments in the company’s own railway infrastructure to prevent future train wrecks, much of which was already planned. They will pay another $600 million in a class action lawsuit. Court documents suggest that a family living within two miles of the derailment might receive $70,000 for property damage and $10,000 for injuries. A meager $107 million is going to aid for residents, including health and water monitoring. There are no funds set aside for long term effects of the toxic fumes from the fires and spills caused by the train wreck.
