(NewsNation) — Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have filed a series of lawsuits against Norfolk Southern and state and federal agencies, alleging they did not do enough to protect the town after a train derailed in 2023, devastating the area.
They also said locals are still sick. Nearly 800 residents are involved in the litigation.
One of those people is Jami Wallace, who told NewsNation’s “CUOMO” that the government didn’t help.
“The CDC comes in, and (we) get sick, and they leave us here. They betrayed us,” Wallace said. “Our government betrayed us. We’re taxpaying United States citizens, and our government left us. Still nothing, not even a bottle of water.”
Her attorney, Don Keenan, called what happened afterward a “cover-up.”
The agencies named in the lawsuit include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
On the night of Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying flammable and other hazardous materials derailed, going up in flames. Two days later, people living in the area were evacuated.
Officials allowed residents to return by Feb. 8, just five days after the incident.
Toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, were emitted into the air and soil. According to the CDC, vinyl chloride is a human carcinogen, so it can cause cancer. Within days, the colorless gas, which is highly combustible, can break down into other harmful substances.
“Some people who have breathed vinyl chloride for several years have changes in the structure of their livers,” according to the CDC. “People are more likely to develop these changes if they breathe high levels of vinyl chloride.”
Keenan, the attorney representing Wallace, said a civil jury trial is needed.
“200 years ago, the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution provided a civil jury trial remedy. These people need a jury. They need a jury of their peers to take a look at this evidence and to see clearly the cover-up that was done,” Keenan said.
Keenan said he would not consider a class action lawsuit. In a jury trial, a jury decides the outcome, whereas in a class action lawsuit, a judge determines a universal outcome for the large group of plaintiffs involved.
“I can’t believe that they thought the people would be that stupid. Well, these people are not stupid, and they’re standing up,” Keenan said. “And they’re going to get their day in court before a jury, not a conveyor belt, mass tort class action debacle, which has preceded this thing. They knew that wasn’t right, so it’s the jury trial coming up.”