Norfolk Southern planning to compensate East Palestine homeowners

Norfolk Southern plans to compensate homeowners in East Palestine, Ohio, where one of its trains derailed earlier this year and sparked a public health and environmental disaster, for the loss in property value that the crash may have caused.

In a letter to Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), JD Vance (R-Ohio), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said the company plans to establish a fund that would compensate homeowners for the loss of property value. 

He said the company plans to offer compensation to homeowners within a 5-mile radius of the crash site and who sell their homes for less than what their value was before the derailment.

“Norfolk Southern has not waited for the judicial process to be completed prior to getting to work on the structure and shape of a real property fund that will compensate homeowners,” Shaw said in the letter. “Initially, we expect eligible homeowners for this compensation to include those with homes within an approximately 5-mile radius of the derailment, and who sell their homes for less than their property’s pre-February 3 appraised value.”

Shaw also said the company will offer to compensate any homeowner who sells their property for less than the pre-crash value before the establishment of the fund, with the understanding the homeowner then releases any claims of diminished property value going forward.

Shaw said the company expects to make payments within a year. He also said he wrote the letter to the lawmakers at the encouragement of Cruz, who said the company “has a long way to go to make things right” but said the deal to compensate homeowners “is an important step in repairing the damage done.”

The commitment to compensating homeowners in the town comes after the company faced sharp criticism for its response to the derailment, which made national headlines. Shaw said the property value fund was the company showing it “understands that this derailment was not the fault of the people of East Palestine.” 

“I have been to the village and surrounding communities numerous times and I see that this is a strong and resilient population, but they are victims of this circumstance,” Shaw said.