US railroad operator Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million to settle a class action lawsuit over a February 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals, according to the company and court documents.
The wreck occurred around 10:30 Wednesday morning in the village of Versailles, Ohio when the semi-truck stopped on the West St crossing of the CSX railway as the safety barrier was lowering.
The changes railroads announced after last year's fiery crash in East Palestine, Ohio, haven’t yet made a major difference, statistics show, and reforms have stalled in Congress. Meanwhile there were some improvements with other numbers, like total derailments. The overall picture is that rail safety hasn’t significantly improved in recent years — and as the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine last Feb. 3 and others demonstrate, just one derailment can be disastrous when hazardous chemicals are involved.