Judge rejects bid to reopen $600M East Palestine derailment settlement

(CN) — A federal judge on Friday shut the door on an attempt by East Palestine, Ohio, residents to overturn personal injury releases signed as part of a $600 million class settlement over the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment.

In a 29-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson ruled against nearly 200 residents who moved in Sept. 2025 to rescind their releases. The group claimed a “calculated strategy” between Norfolk Southern and class counsel rushed the settlement to conceal the true, long-term health risks following the accident.

Pearson, a Barack Obama appointee, found the residents failed to provide evidence required to prove they were defrauded into signing away their rights to future litigation.

“Movants, however, have not identified any conduct constituting fraud, let alone a pattern,” the Barack Obama appointee said in the opinion. “Simply asserting that there may be conflicting opinions among professionals about the severity of the health risks does not result in fraud.”

The ruling stems from a Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, a village near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, where at least 38 railcars released toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water.

In the aftermath, nearly 55,000 claims were filed within a 20-mile radius as residents raised concerns about health, water safety and environmental damage.

A $600 million class settlement was intended to resolve the litigation, but some residents later sought to void their agreements, claiming they were pressured into settling by attorneys and rail executives who downplayed long-term risks.

The settlement created three payment categories, including optional compensation for class members within 10 miles of the derailment who agreed to waive any personal injury claims tied to the incident.

The residents said they were steered into the agreement before seeing full expert reports on potential toxic contamination, and that Norfolk Southern and class counsel moved to settle before long-term risks were known.

Pearson said existing concerns about dioxins and long-term health risks were not concealed and had been discussed in public filings and news reports for months before residents signed their releases.

“Movants had every opportunity to educate themselves before voluntarily and individually signing a release,” she said in the order, noting even Norfolk’s attorneys were upfront about potential health risks that could appear decades down the line.

Central to the residents’ argument was a town hall presentation by toxicologist Dr. Chip Carson, who said long-term health risks were “much smaller than 1%.” Other experts disputed that, saying it was too early to predict long-term effects.

Residents also questioned Carson’s independence, saying he was a close associate of class counsel. Judge Pearson rejected that claim, noting Carson was not paid and his assessment was supported by other studies.

The residents sought relief under a federal rule allowing courts to set aside final judgments in “extraordinary circumstances,” but Pearson found the standard was not met.

“Rule 60 does not provide relief from the consequences of a deliberate choice, even if the subsequent events reveal the choice to have been unwise,” she said in the order, noting the residents — many of whom had already cashed their checks — always had the choice whether or not to sign the release.

“Movants had the individual autonomy to decide whether to participate in the ‘Personal Injury Payment’ part of the settlement; they were not required to release their personal injury claims, and it was up to each individual movant to decide whether to affirmatively take part,” she said in the order.

Pearson also cited a Sixth Circuit ruling that concluded allowing a tiny fraction of the 55,000 claimants to undo the deal would be unfair to the rest of the community and endanger the financial stability of thousands of households and businesses awaiting their share of the $600 million fund.

Norfolk Southern did not immediately respond to a request for comment.