31 lawsuits filed by residents, business owners over Norfolk Southern derailment

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Attorneys have filed 31 lawsuits against Norfolk Southern Railroad since the February train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

The lawsuits, in federal court in Youngstown, so far represent about 100 East Palestine residents and about a dozen businesses in the village. Three dozen people and five businesses from outside the village also have sued. The first lawsuit was filed on Feb. 7, four days after the derailment.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson ordered that all 31 cases be consolidated to streamline proceedings.

“The appointment of interim class counsel is critically important in a case of this nature, as it is an ongoing event affecting potentially thousands of residents, property owners and businesses in East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding area, all of whom are members of the putative classes that have been proposed,” Pearson’s order said.

The cases do not include lawsuits filed by the Ohio attorney general’s office and U.S. Department of Justice against the railroad company over a string of Norfolk Southern derailments across the country. Those cases will move through the court system separately.

The 31 lawsuits will operate as one consolidated case for now, Pearson ordered. Pearson has yet to certify the cases’ class-action status, but is consolidating them under an interim basis.

She named as co-lead counsel: Seth A. Katz of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine P.C.; M. Elizabeth Graham of Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.; Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC; and T. Michael Morgan of Morgan & Morgan P.A.

“We’re honored by the court’s order appointing us as co-lead counsel for the litigation against the Norfolk Southern Railway Co. arising out of its Feb. 3rd train derailment and subsequent environmental disaster,” Katz, Graham and Conroy said in a joint statement.

The derailment of 38 cars in a 149-car train spilled an estimated 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride and other hazardous materials. The chemicals leached into the ground and nearby rivers and tributaries. Some made it into the Ohio River.

The chemicals caused residents to become sick and fish and other wildlife to die. Half of the town’s population of 5,000 people evacuated during a controlled release of the chemicals because of fears the train’s derailed cars could explode.

Adam Ferrise covers federal courts at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. You can find his work here.

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