US: Ohio sues Norfolk Southern over East Palestine derailment

The state of Ohio has filed a lawsuit against rail company Norfolk Southern over the derailment in East Palestine in February. The derailment resulted in chemical spills into the environment around the town.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Ohio Attorney General David Yost said the state was filing a federal lawsuit against Norfolk Southern over the derailment that took place on February 3. The derailment resulted in the spill of a million gallons of hazardous materials into the environment in East Palestine. Yost said he would seek compensation from the company over the damages brought by the derailment to the environment, the economy, and the residents.

“This derailment was entirely avoidable,” said Yost.

Ohio filed the suit in a US District Court, where it cited that over a million gallons of hazardous materials spilled from the derailment and into the air, streams, rivers, soil, and groundwater, “killing tens of thousands of fish and other animals, and recklessly endangering the health of Ohioans throughout the region.”

The state is also seeking prior and future costs linked to the derailment, saying that the railroad breached state laws that regulated control of hazardous material, solid waste, and air and water pollution.

The suit said Norfolk Southern “has an extensive and tragic history of derailments and releases of hazardous materials…Norfolk Southern’s own record demonstrates that it knew – and should have taken appropriate steps to prevent – the significant harm the derailment would cause.”

Yost met with the rail company on Monday to discuss several issues related to the derailment, including the creation of a “fund to compensate for long-term losses to real estate values,” which can improve the water treatment in East Palestine.

On Wednesday, the Democratic chair of the Senate Banking Committee said the panel will be holding hearings on the issues in the banking industry. Senator Sherrod Brown told reporters that while there would be hearings on the issues in the banking industry, the legislation appears unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

While Brown did not provide an exact date for the hearings, he said that there would be “oversight” on the matter.