WASHINGTON — Norfolk Southern will establish a fund to reimburse homeowners near the site of the East Palestine derailment who sell their homes for less than they were worth before the incident, Reuters reports.
NS CEO Alan Shaw informed U.S. senators of the plan in a letter on Tuesday, saying those eligible will be “within an approximately 5-mile radius of the derailment … who sell their homes for less than their property’s pre-Feb. 3 appraised value.”
The railroad had previously announced it planned “tailored protection” for home sellers as one of three programs for residents announced in March, following discussions with Ohio Attorney General David Yost. Those discussions preceded a lawsuit by Yost over the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine which he said was to ensure the railroad delivered on its promises to take responsibility for the derailment and subsequent toxic chemical release [see “Ohio sues Norfolk Southern …,” Trains News Wire, March 14, 2023].
NS did not have a choice. If it had not congress might have passed draconian measures on all RRs. That would have meant all the interlocking ownerships of all the other RRs would have canned Shaw and many others at NS. These interlocking monopolies need to be dissolved!
Good for Mr Shaw to step up and take responsibility for this accident and the problems associated with it.