Ohio governor: Norfolk Southern needs to create fund for health care bills
Gov. Mike DeWine says a multimillion-dollar fund must be set up for victims of the East Palestine train derailment
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) on how Ohio is working to help the citizens of East Palestine
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says a multimillion-dollar fund needs to be set up to pay the medical expenses of the victims impacted by Norfolk Southern's toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio – and the railroad must pay for it.
OHIO TRAIN CRASH FORCES NORFOLK SOUTHERN TO PAY ‘INCONVENIENCE FEES’
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine speaks during a news conference in East Palestine, Ohio, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. The governor says Norfolk Southern will need to set up a multimillion-dollar fund to pay for the healthcare costs of victims of the company's toxic (AP Photo/Matt Freed / AP Newsroom)
"I think where this clearly goes … to assure people that their concerns about the long run will in fact be taken care of — a year from now, five years from now, ten years from now — we'll have to end up with a fund, and the railroad is going to have to establish that fund in conjunction with officials," the Republican told "FOX & Friends" Thursday. "Ultimately, that will be supervised by a court."
DeWine noted Norfolk Southern has already been hit with several class-action lawsuits from residents of the area where the derailment occurred last month near the Pennsylvania border, and said the railway will ultimately end up in federal court over the disaster.
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A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, after a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says the railroad will need to set up a multimillion-dollar fund to pay the health (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar / AP Newsroom)
The train derailment with 50 rail cars, 10 of which were carrying vinyl chloride, caused hazardous chemicals to spill onto the ground and sent a plume of smoke into the air.
In the chemical spill aftermath, residents living within a one-mile radius were evacuated and many have reported health symptoms like sore throats, headaches and other respiratory issues. Workers cleaning up the site have reported getting sick, too.
DeWine said he did not think Norfolk Southern was "as cooperative as they could have been" in the first day or two after the incident that occurred Feb. 3, but credited the company with paying "every bill that we've submitted to them or that, to our knowledge, had been submitted."
View of the scene Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3, in East Palestine, Ohio. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the wake of a fiery Ohio derailment and other recen (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File / AP Images)
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSC | NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP. | 231.05 | -1.91 | -0.82% |
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The governer emphasized the fund for covering the health care costs of people impacted by the derailment will be "significant … in the millions of dollars," and that Norfolk Southern will be forced to set it up if the company does not do so voluntarily.
"If you look at what has happened in other rail and other big environmental disasters, some much, much bigger than this, it always goes to a fund," the governor told FOX. "And that's how you protect people."
Ohio residents hit with medical issues after Norfolk Southern train derailment
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel speaks to members of the East Palestine community after new research revealed higher-than-normal levels of toxicity around the train derailment site.
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Norfolk Southern did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.