A company that owned a railway car that caused the destructive tearing of Eastern Palestine trains in 2023 should not help pay $ 600 million for the settlement Norfolk southern agreed with residents.
Ohio jury decided on Wednesday that Gatx was not responsible for the settlement, though the refusal of the bearing on its railway car, which transported plastic pellets Norfolk southern acted and inspected The train and all the cars were responsible for safe delivery of cargo.
“GATX is satisfied with the result of the trial, which confirms what we knew for a while: only Norfolk Southern is responsible for the rails and as a result of damage to Eastern Palestine,” the company said.
Norfolk southern called the sentence disappointed, but stated that it would not affect the liabilities of the railway to all who suffered from the rails.
“For more than two years, Norfolk Southn has paid the costs related to the rails, when recognized and acting on our own responsibility for the accident. Our conviction has always been that GATX divides this responsibility and should be held accountable,” the railway said.
After the train left the rails in Eastern Palestine, the range of chemicals spilled and caught fire. Then three days later officialsBlowed five tank carsFilled with vinylhlide because they were afraid that these machines could explode by creating a massive black plume of smoke that spread through the area and causes evacuation.
Norfolk southernlost a similar claimLast year, when he tried to force Gatx and Aksivili, forcing Vinyl chloride, to help pay for ecological cleaning after the rails that cost more than $ 1 billion in Atlanta. He didSimilar argumentsIn this trial.
These lawsuits do not affect how many monetary residents or villages of Eastern Palestine will receive from their settlements with the railway. These cases only affect what the company writes a check.
Last week the oxyvinila agreed onsettlementWith Norfolk South in this lawsuit about the settlement of the class after the railroad lawyers raised questions about inconsistent information, which the chemical campaign presented whether it was necessary to perform ventilation and burning surgery and release vinyl-chloride. The details of this settlement were not published.
The National Transport Security Council has confirmed in its investigation that ventilation and burning operationsneedlessBecause the cars -the tanka began to cool down and the railwayFailed to listenBefore the advice of Oxyvinyls experts or share your opinion with the officials who have made the decision.
The railway stated that GATX had to do more to take care of its railway car, especially after it was surrounded by floods that could damage its bearings.
But GATX stated that he complied with all the relevant rules for taking care of his railway vehicles. The company stated that even when the car was damaged six years earlier, standing parked in the middle of the flood from Hurricane Harvey, the railway had to notice the problem and repaired it by sending a GATX bill for repairs.
National Transport Security Councilsaid the disaster was causedDue to the refusal of overheating on the GATX railway car. The rail sensors noticed the bearing, which begins to heat in miles in front of the rails, but it did not reach the critical temperature and caused the alarm just before the cancellation. This left the crew of little time to stop the train.
Originally this story was presented on Fortune.com
https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AP25107713677324-e1745490727478.jpg?resize=1200,600
2025-04-24 10:34:00
Josh Funk, The Associated Press
