Trial will determine who will pay $600 million settlement in disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Yahoo! News/AP

Sun, March 30, 2025 at 12:32 AM EDT


Norfolk Southern wants two other companies to help pay for the $600 million class-action settlement it agreed to over its disastrous 2023 train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and the toxic chemicals that were released and burned.

The railroad filed the motion that is set to go to trial starting Monday to force the railcar owner GATX and the chemical manufacturer OxyVinyls to share the cost of the settlement because Norfolk Southern believes those companies are partly responsible for what happened in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2023.

This lawsuit won't change anything about how much money residents will receive from the settlement or any payments the village or anyone else is set to receive because those are all established in various settlement agreements. This case will only affect which company has to write the checks to pay for the class-action settlement.

Residents are still waiting to receive most of the money from the settlement because of pending appeals, although some payments have started to go out.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trial-determine-pay-600-million-043237586.html

[House of Roberts]

1. Not gonna fly.

It's up to Norfolk Southern to not derail their trains, not blame others for what happens after derailment.

[cadoman]

2. if someone sells them faulty equipment that contributes to the crash, does that seller not bear responsibility as well?

And if a shipping client provides inaccurate details about materials onboard and their handling, is the client not responsible as well?

If Norfolk Southern's employees are telling them it went down a certain way that is not being accurately represented or acknowledged, then they are right to pursue the case.

"But Homendy said they never heard Oxy Vinyls’ opinion that the vinyl chloride was stable. Instead, the decision-makers relied on contractors who were alarmed by the limited temperature readings they were able to get, combined with the violent way one of the tank cars released vinyl chloride with a roar from a pressure release valve after hours of calm. Drew McCarty with Specialized Professional Services testified last spring that the tank car “frankly scared the hell out of us.” "

In the end, it's just huge corporations fighting with other huge corporations about blame. But the details are nuanced as far as understanding the SDS, how the meters at the site were read, how signs of damage to the car were interpreted, inhibition vs. stabilization, etc.

The depositions have great detail, including the risk the workers on the ground put themselves in to respond to & analyze the situation:

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66794549/590/in-re-east-palestine-train-derailment/

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66794549/593/in-re-east-palestine-train-derailment/

At least the people of Palestine have a settlement that will net them a bit of something.

[House of Roberts]

3. What faulty equipment caused the derailment?

Last I heard it was a bearing failure on a railcar that was reported prior to the wreck by railroad defect detectors. That is something that is broadcast immediately on the railroad's scanner frequency to the train crew and must be acknowledged by a response to the dispatcher or supervisor on the air.

[cadoman]

4. defect detectors went off shortly before the crash & emergency brake was then initiated

"The crew received an alarm from a wayside defect detector shortly before the derailment indicating a mechanical problem, and then an emergency brake application was initiated.[30]"

I'd say the meat and potatoes of XATG's alleged responsibility starts around page 20 of this doc.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ohnd.294603/gov.uscourts.ohnd.294603.119.0_1.pdf

"However, railroads are limited in their ability to conduct a detailed inspection or take other action. They cannot, for example, test or certify a tank car’s safety-related mechanical functions—as car owners must do under 49 C.F.R. § 180.509 and other provisions—or load the hazardous materials to ensure proper stability and pressure for shipment—as chemical shippers must do under 49 C.F.R. § 173.22. It is the shipper that has the primary obligation to ensure that the railcar and equipment used are compatible with the lading."

Around page 9 you can read the full details of the various HBD alerts.

Around page 25 it gets into GATX's alleged culpability:

"For GATX Corporation’s Car 29, the tank car valve was replaced with
a Midland 720 valve without approval. Additionally, this Car’s PRD,
which had a 225 psi start, was replaced without approval with a PRD
with a 247.5 psi start. Finally, according to the Federal Railroad
Administration, Car 29 was never approved for vinyl chloride service,
which has a special regulatory provision."

"All three vinyl chloride tank cars owned by Oxy Vinyls—Cars 27, 28,
and 53—have missing or incorrect information on their AAR Form 4-
2. For example, Car 27 has modifications that were not properly
documented or approved, including changes to two component parts
that modified the material from carbon steel to stainless steel"

I think the document lays out pretty well what the car owner responsibilities are and what the shippers responsibilities are.

[House of Roberts]

5. What I think is laid out very well,

is that it can't be determined if any discrepancy in protocol, by either car owner or shipper, had any contributing factor in any liability, had the train not jumped off the tracks and damaged the cars. Any failure by any components is compromised by the unavoidable fact that had there been no wreck, none of these components would have been in any way a danger to the public.
If Norfolk Southern somehow wins relief in the court, it just gives them a get out of liability argument to use any time there's a derailment. If they want that kind of protection, they shouldn't be in the freight hauling business.

[cadoman]

6. but the judge thought differently and sent it to trial

I brought it up because your earlier post implied that only Norfolk Southern could be responsible in a situation like this, but there is clearly the potential for legal liability on the part of other parties involved.

To deny that is to deny the existence of the trial--or the qualifications of the judge. Or the existence of the related code, I suppose..

[House of Roberts]

7. Judges seldom have the technical expertise, nor do juries,

to assign liability without a thorough examination of the details, and a relatively expansive lesson in court of how each detail affects others. The judge is merely covering his ass so as not to be overruled on appeal. He has to give Norfolk Southern their 'day in court' whether their claim of shared liability is valid or not.

[cadoman]

8. Benita Pearson is a female judge appointed by President Barack Obama

Benita Pearson uses she/her pronouns and I can assure you that she would not and has never claimed to be a subject matter expert on train shipping. She is however, an expert at interpreting the law and has determined that NS' arguments have legal merit and that a jury needs to resolve the facts at hand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benita_Y._Pearson

This is not a MAGAT circus court. It is a legitimate judicial proceeding and deserves to be treated as such.