CLEVELAND — Norfolk Southern’s legal problems are ballooning as the U.S. Department of Justice is going after the rail company in a major civil lawsuit.
Legal action against Norfolk Southern started just days after a toxic train derailment in East Palestine last month.
News 5 Investigates is also learning more about the response through a public records request.
We obtained nearly 70 pages of emails from the Pennsylvania Governor’s office which show rolling updates on the response from day one.
Dozens of rail cars derailed the night of Feb. 3.
About a half hour later, help from Beaver County, Pennsylvania rushed across the state line.
The federal EPA and Ohio EPA set up air monitoring.
Two days later, the Ohio EPA recommended a one-mile evacuation after one rail car with vinyl chloride showed an increasing temperature.
By late afternoon on Feb. 6, it was noted that a controlled detonation went as planned to empty and burn off the vinyl chloride from one rail car.
Hours later, the command post corrected the number to five cars, not one.
That night, four people had gone to the hospital for burning eyes and chest pain.
"EPA is coming in under its jurisdiction of protecting the environment,” said Michael Benza, Professor of Practice at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
The Justice Department, on behalf of the EPA, accused Norfolk Southern in a federal civil lawsuit of violating parts of the Clean Water Act when hazardous chemicals and oil spilled into nearby creeks and rivers.
Click here to read the Department of Justice's full statement.
"It gives them the legal mechanism to enforce the cleanup, the remediation and the taking care of people in town,” Benza said.
Professor Benza said this action will try to restore the environment to what it was before the derailment and make sure it’s safe.
The DOJ could push the court to levy substantial fines.
"One, that gives the company an incentive to get going on this very quickly,” Benza said.
Benza said what it doesn’t do is eliminate anyone’s individual claims, with at least 30 so far.
Attorney General Dave Yost sued the company earlier this month.
Benza said Norfolk Southern isn’t off the hook either for possible criminal charges including negligence. That's something Benza said companies want to avoid.
"It's very possible that a criminal case against Norfolk Southern could result in them not being a train company anymore,” Benza said.
Norfolk Southern sent this statement:
"Our job right now is to make progress every day cleaning up the site, assisting residents whose lives were impacted by the derailment, and investing in the future of East Palestine and the surrounding areas. We are working with urgency, at the direction of the U.S. EPA, and making daily progress. That remains our focus and we'll keep working until we make it right."
Benza said it could take years for civil actions like this to resolve.
News 5 Investigators sent the same request for emails to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office, but they asked for more clarity and to be more specific. News 5 is refining the request and will follow up with the governor’s office.
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