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.
“Norfolk Southern’s misguided cleanup effort unleashed a chemical warfare agent on the residents of East Palestine,” noted the attorney, who will serve as co-counsel representing the East Palestine residents….