James Myers of OAN
Thursday, May 23, 2024 1:50 p.m.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an estimated $310 million settlement reached with railroad company Norfolk Southern.
advertisement
This follows an incident last February in which one of the train cars spilled toxic chemicals into the town of East Palestine, Ohio.
The settlement includes an estimated $235 million for cleanup efforts and $15 million in penalties for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. The violations are highlighted as “alleged” and Norfolk Southern has not admitted to any wrongdoing under the settlement.
In addition to the civil penalty, Norfolk Southern agreed to repay an additional $57 million to the EPA for response costs and to establish a $25 million health fund to cover the costs of health inspections in the area over a 20-year period.
Additionally, the railroad will pay between $25 million and $30 million for long-term monitoring of drinking water and groundwater.
“This settlement is historic in many ways, and it will begin to make up for some of the damage that has been done to the residents of East Palestine. And it certainly will push the industry in the direction that we want the industry to go in,” EPA Administrator Michael Reagan said. “Again, if some of these provisions that we’ve secured and locked in were in place, we might not even be here today.”
Regan said the fine is the largest ever under the Clean Water Act and that the railroad has agreed to continue paying the full cost of the cleanup.
No criminal charges will be filed by the railroad, and the settlement does not add to Norfolk Southern’s estimated total costs of $1.7 billion related to the derailment, because Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern Railway Co. was already anticipating those costs.
But residents have been critical of the settlement, saying it does not go far enough to make things right.
“Honestly, no amount of money is going to make this right, but it’s going to be enough to at least hurt them a little bit. It’s not going to affect their bottom line at all,” Jamie Wallace said.
Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern Railroad reported a profit of $527 million in the fourth quarter of last year. The railroad’s CEO received $13.4 million in compensation last year.
At the time of the incident, many local residents said the Biden administration did not respond quickly enough and said President Joe Biden should have been on the scene immediately.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has defended its response to the incident, saying the EPA immediately began monitoring the environmental impact of the incident and “collected thousands of water, air and soil samples.”
The agency also claims that no chemicals of “concern” have been detected in the air since evacuation orders were lifted just days after the accident.
Meanwhile, the railroad is working to resolve a lawsuit filed by the state of Ohio against the company after the derailment.
Stay up to date! Receive the latest news directly in your email for free. Sign up here: https://www.oann.com/alerts
Please share this post!
