(The Associated Press circulated the following article on May 27.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A judge approved a tentative settlement on Friday to reimburse residents and businesses affected by a train wreck that killed 9 people and injured 250 on Jan. 6.
The settlement of a class-action suit against the line, Norfolk Southern, covers 5,400 people forced to leave Graniteville after chemical fumes leaked from the wreck. The train ran onto a side track, smashing into parked railcars and rupturing one with chlorine. Federal investigators said the crew of the parked train had failed to flip a switch.
Under the settlement, the rail line will pay $2,000 a household within one mile of the site for inconvenience, and $200 a day per person for people who left and were not hospitalized.
The settlement does not cover the dead or hospitalized. Separate suits have been filed for them.
At least one lawyer, Peter Borstell, has objected to the settlement, saying the 435 residents whom his firm represents deserve more money.
The judge scheduled a hearing in August for formal objections.
Norfolk Southern expects to spend $35 million for cleanup, legal claims and other expenses, a spokesman, Robin Chapman, has said.