BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Seventeen months after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and released and burned toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, many residents are still waiting for the settlement money they were promised.
The February 2023 derailment in East Palestine forced evacuations and raised long-term health and environmental concerns. Dozens of train cars, many carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride, caught fire or were intentionally burned to prevent further explosions.
“The clouds in the sky, it was just scary — just scary,” said Becky Francis, who lives in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. “I live on a farm. It’s peaceful, a beautiful view. And then I see that. What do you do? Do you hunker down in your house? Do you leave? You don’t know what to do.”
Francis is one of thousands of residents near the derailment zone still struggling with health symptoms and financial uncertainty. Many said the physical effects began soon after the incident and haven’t gone away.
“Suddenly, I get vertigo — it hits me and knocks me off the seat,” said Ed Siceloff, also of Beaver County. “I never expected that, and there are more people than me suffering like that.”
Marie Eberlein, who lives in neighboring Lawrence County, said her family developed rashes and respiratory issues.
“We had phlegm built up in our lungs. I had to run my air conditioner as an air purifier,” Eberlein said.
In September 2024, Norfolk Southern agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action settlement for individuals who filed personal injury and property damage claims related to the derailment. The money was turned over to Kroll Settlement Administration, a firm appointed by the court to distribute the funds.
Residents were told by Kroll that payments would begin by December. Now, more than six months later, many have still received nothing.
“You look in the mailbox every day — is there a letter? No letter. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Francis said.
According to residents, some people in East Palestine and Beaver County received checks while others in the same ZIP code or nearby areas did not.
“It’s not like one special area is getting theirs. It’s like they pull a name out of a hat and that’s who gets paid that day,” Francis said.
Repeated attempts to contact Kroll for updates from 11 Investigates went unanswered. Days later, the court removed Kroll as the settlement administrator following complaints about communication failures and calculation errors.
A new administrator has been appointed, but residents said they have received no clear timeline, no updated guidance, and no explanation for the delays.
“This new company is going to do an audit — but who’s paying for the audit?” Francis asked. “Kroll already got paid millions to do what they were supposed to. So what’s left of that $600 million? We’re going to be paid cents.”
Eberlein said her family is already in financial crisis.
“We literally cannot afford to fix anything else. We’re in deep debt. We’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, and I can’t do anything about it,” she said. “If your boss didn’t pay you in six months, you’d quit. But we can’t quit. These are our homes.”
In a statement to Channel 11, a Norfolk Southern spokesperson said the company is “disheartened” by the issues with distribution and added: “We are pleased the court has taken immediate action to direct a prompt resolution of this matter with class counsel and the settlement administrator, so that individuals in and around East Palestine continue to receive the payments they are entitled to.”
Still, residents said they remain in the dark, with no money and no guarantee of when it will come.
“I might be dead by the time they get payments out,” Francis said.
For now, the people who lived through this public health emergency remain in limbo — waiting for relief, answers and accountability.
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