‘Environmental Catastrophe’: Ohio Residents Launch Class Action Against Railroad Firm Over Derailment

Ron Fodo, Ohio EPA Emergency Response, looks for signs of fish and also agitates the water in Leslie Run creek to check for chemicals that have settled at the bottom following the train derailment prompting health concerns in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 20, 2023. Michael Swensen/Getty Images

Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have filed a class action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Corp., alleging that the railroad company’s “negligent actions” in the wake of a Feb. 3 derailment and chemical spill had created an “environmental catastrophe.”

Noting that Norfolk Southern took two hours to file a report on the crash, Youngstown, Ohio, attorney Nils Johnson Jr. of the Johnson and Johnson law firm said in a Feb. 24 statement that that delay—along with the company’s decision to burn off the hazardous chemicals the train was carrying—amounted to negligence.