Norfolk Southern sending 'tens of thousands' of settlement letters

People who live within 20 miles of the East Palestine train disaster are receiving letters with directions on how to move forward to claim their share of a $600 million dollar settlement.

The problem is, people like James Vaughn are receiving duplicate letters with separate claim numbers.

"They have me listed as James Vaughn and James D. Vaughn III III. I've never heard of a third third," Vaughn said.

Vaughn finds this especially peculiar because he doesn't have any children.

A man who sold his home in Boardman back in 2022 and now lives in Florida, also said he received a letter to the Florida address. Adam Gomez, a principal at Grant and Eisenhofer Law Firm, said there's tens of thousands of people to send the notices out to, so they're just covering their bases.

"We use industry-leading data bases, census information, tax records, property records etcetera to put together the most comprehensive listing and data base of individuals and addresses that are mailable and get out the notice," said Gomez. "It's better that more people are aware of the settlement than less people are aware of the settlement, so it's better that folks receive two or three mailings than don't receive any mailings at all," he said.

Mailing isn't the only way the law firm intends to notify eligible recipients.

"There's also going to be a concerted social media campaign over the next few weeks," Gomez said.

After thousands of people receive these letters and opt-in for payment, what will the pay out actually look like?

"The information that's provided in those claims forms is translated into points," Gomez said. "Points are then added up and become that individual class member's share of the settlement," he said.

If you have unanswered questions, you can visit the East Palestine train settlement web site here, or call 1-833-425-3400 or take your concerns to the train derailment settlement center at 191 E. Rebecca St. in East Palestine.