Few residents opt out of $600 million class action settlement in East Palestine, Ohio, derailment

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Few people ultimately opted out of the $600 million class action settlement Norfolk Southern offered to people affected by last year's disastrous East Palestine train derailment despite the questions residents raised about the deal, lawyers said. A handful of residents filed formal objections to the deal because they believe it's not fair that some of the people who were most affected by the derailment might wind up with the smallest settlements and that people didn't have enough time or information to decide whether this deal is fair. Residents had a chance to hear the NTSB discuss the reasons why the train derailed and the communication failures afterward at the board's June 25 hearing, but the agency didn't release its final report until Friday — nearly two weeks after people who live near East Palestine had to decide whether to accept the settlement. Some residents might receive little or nothing from the settlement because the final amount they get will be reduced by how much assistance they took from Norfolk Southern since the derailment.