(The following report appeared on The State website on January 9.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Under a class-action settlement given preliminary approval Monday, Norfolk Southern would pay the following amounts to people injured by chlorine exposure in the January 2005 Graniteville train wreck. The payments are in addition to medical costs and lost wages paid by the railroad.
Subclass 1: $20,000 to each person who received medical treatment before Feb. 1, 2005, and who was present within a one-mile radius of the wreck site. Avondale Mills workers each would receive an additional $2,500
Subclass 2: $11,250 to each person who received treatment before Feb. 1, 2005, and who was present within specified areas outside the one-mile radius
Subclass 3: $9,375 to each person who received treatment after Feb. 1, 2005, but before April 6, 2005, and who was present within the one-mile radius
Subclass 4: $17,500 to each emergency responder who received treatment and who was present within the one-mile radius between Jan. 6 and Jan. 11, 2005
Subclass 5: $25,000 to each qualifying person for the first calendar day of hospitalization and $18,750 for each hospitalization day through the sixth day. For the seventh and subsequent days, the daily reimbursement amount would be $25,000. In addition, each qualifying person could receive as much as $93,750 for treatment of “permanent or persistent incident-related pulmonary impairment.”
Subclass 6: Varying amounts to people who were within the one-mile radius and who received treatment for physical symptoms after observing someone who was seriously injured or died