Norfolk Southern will pay modest $15 million fine as part of federal settlement over Ohio derailment

The federal government agreed to a modest $15 million fine for Norfolk Southern over last year’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department announced the agreement Thursday, two days after a federal judge signed off on the railroad’s $600 million class action settlement with residents. In addition to the civil penalty, Norfolk Southern agreed to reimburse the EPA $57 million in cleanup costs and set up a $25 million health care fund to pay for 20 years of medical exams in the community and follow through on $244 million of planned safety improvements. The railroad won’t face criminal charges. This latest settlement also won’t add anything to Norfolk Southern’s roughly $1.7 billion in total costs related to the derailment.