Vance visits East Palestine as lawsuit alleges first deaths from 2023 derailment

Vice President J.D. Vance and Lee Zeldin, the recently sworn-in administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, met with state and local officials on Monday to mark the second anniversary of the village’s devastating train derailment and chemical spill. The pair toured the crash site near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border and received updates on the chemical cleanup progress.

Vance vowed to finish the environmental cleanup and said he hoped to make the area more prosperous than it was before the 2023 accident. He also hinted at revising railroad regulations and allowing companies to experiment with new technology to increase safety. New regulations could also ensure that when a disaster happens, the company responsible will pick up the tab instead of the government, Vance said. The executive visit came the same day that another mass lawsuit was filed against Norfolk Southern, the railroad company responsible for the accident. The new court action includes the first seven wrongful death claims associated with the accident.

What does the new lawsuit contain? The Monday filing alleged that at least seven people died in connection to the chemical spill, including an infant, according to the Associated Press. Attorney Kristina Baehr represents about 750 people in the filing that has not been publicly released. The filing alleged that EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials allowed government contractors to use dangerous chemical cleanup methods and failed to warn residents of the health risks linked to the methods.

After the chemical spill caught fire, officials intentionally exploded several more cars filled with vinyl chloride hoping to head off a possible future unplanned explosion of overheated tanks. The controlled explosion and burn released a black plume into the air, allegedly exposing residents to the toxic chemical. The lawsuit described unexplained health problems developing and lingering in locals after the accident, the AP reported. Norfolk Southern faced several lawsuits and agreed last year to shell out $600 million to residents within 20 miles of the crash site.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about how East Palestine residents dealt with lingering distrust in government officials after the accident.