It's been 9 months since the East Palestine train derailment, and the lives of many remain derailed. News 5 first showed you Edwin Wang, months ago, when the derailment stopped operations at this business as the EPA began using his facility as clean-up headquarters. Tuesday, News 5 followed through with Wang and his struggles as he’s filed a $500 million lawsuit against Norfolk Southern.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
Wang's company, CeramFab, is located immediately next to the derailment site and makes protective parts for steel mills. His other businesses, CeramSource and WYG Refractories, were also close by and forced to stop operations.
“These two plants are far beyond my ability to save it,” said Wang.
Tuesday, Wang and his attorneys filed a $500 lawsuit against Norfolk Southern for damages. The lawsuit states, "The lost income, lost property value, lost investment, and lost business opportunity and income is directly and proximately due to Defendants' conduct and is permanent and continuing in nature.”
“This is fatal for our business,” Wang added. “It killed us forever.” “I do not want to see this business fail permanently, but the reality is that this place is contaminated. How can I continue to run a business here?”
The lawsuit said within weeks of the derailment, order cancellations rapidly followed. It added that Wang will likely never again be able to operate its business in the current location or regain its prior growth trajectory.
“We lost the customers, we lost the customer's accounts and orders, we lost them forever,” said Wang. “It's very hard to get them back.”
Wang brought his businesses to East Palestine from New Jersey 4 years ago, investing 10s of millions into renovating the facilities. The lawsuit claims he has lost and will continue to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. Wang said during the last nine months, he’s watched his life’s work crumble.
Wang has one message for Norfolk Southern.
"Your break it, you pay for it, based on the price tag,” Wang said. “We just demand a fair number to compensate to us.”
Wang was able to relocate his wholesale business, CeramSource, to Pennsylvania, but for his two other businesses, WYG Refractories and CeramFab, Wang said the future remains unknown. In response to the lawsuit filed today, Norfolk Southern said it cannot comment on litigation.
