(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Jeffrey Collins on May 4.)
GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — Residents and business owners affected by a train wreck that spilled toxic chlorine in Graniteville, S.C., this past January could get money from the railroad as soon as this summer.
Norfolk Southern and lawyers representing a number of plaintiffs not severely injured or killed in the incident announced Tuesday in federal court they have reached a tentative settlement in a class-action suit.
Details, including dollar amounts, were not disclosed because some smaller points still need to be finalized, said Joe Rice, lawyer for the plaintiffs. But both sides expect the settlement to be filed publicly in about two weeks.
The settlement is novel for both the speed it came about and the scope of what it covered, Rice said.
It comes about four months after a Norfolk Southern train plowed into a parked train on a side track, causing a deadly cloud of chlorine gas to spread over parts of the mill village and nearby Avondale Mills plant. Nine people were killed and about 250 injured. The cleanup forced the evacuation of about 5,400 people who lived or worked within a mile of the wreck.
The settlement covers items, such as cars damaged beyond repair or meat spoiled because of power outages on a dollar-to-dollar basis, Rice said. It also will provide money for harder to quantify things such as stress from the accident, lost business or inconvenience caused by the evacuation, which for some lasted more than a week, he said.
It will not cover lawsuits for anyone killed in the wreck or injured badly enough to go to the hospital within 72 hours of the crash. Those suits will be handled separately, Rice said.
The settlement should be presented to a federal judge in about two weeks and a hearing held to finalize it sometime the week of May 23. Depending on how long claims will be accepted, money could start going to residents and businesses by this summer, Rice said.
“These people need help now. They don’t need help six years from now,” said Rice, referring to a claims in a derailment in Louisiana that took six years to resolve.
While the settlement would end most claims for people affected by the crash, it could be years before the serious injury and death cases are dealt with, lawyers said. But attorneys for the railroad estimate there should be fewer than 100 of those suits.
In a statement released after Tuesday’s hearing, Norfolk Southern said it supports the settlement.
“From day one our goal has been to help the people of Graniteville recover from the accident, and this settlement is a continuation of that effort,” spokesman Frank Macchiaverna said.
How much the company has to pay in this suit depends on how many claims are filed, said Daniel White, a lawyer for the railroad.
But settling the suit so quickly is good for the people suffering, White said.
“Never have we had a class-action suit resolved so quickly. We’re just four months from the accident,” White said.
People who accepted money from Norfolk Southern for evacuation expenses immediately after the wreck also will be eligible for the settlement as long as the damages they claim are worth more than they received from the railroad.
Anyone filing a claim will either need receipts or a signed, sworn statement detailing their damages.
Lawyers far outnumbered anyone else in the federal courthouse in Aiken on Tuesday. About three dozen of them filled the pews. Most represent nearly two dozen other suits being heard in the same court.
Part of the settlement will go to lawyers’ fees, which have to be approved by the court, as well as to pay a judge to work as a special master to mediate disputes and a guardian ad litem, Rice said.
But even with those payments, the settlement is a good deal for the evacuees, Rice said.
“One-on-one, no one could afford to bring this kind of case up for compensation,” he said.