Environmental Law

Lieff Cabraser served on the Plaintiffs Executive Committee and as Co-Chair of the Law and Briefing Committee in litigation brought by our firm and co-counsel on behalf of local residents over the February 3, 2023 derailment and toxic spill in East Palestine, a small, rural community in northeast Ohio. The tragedy made national news when a Norfolk Southern train carrying highly toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, derailed in East Palestine. In late 2024, the court granted final approval to a $600 million settlement of the litigation, the lagest settlement for a railroad disaster in U.S. history.

On February 20, 2023, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise, LLP, and Meyer Wilson Co., LPA filed a federal class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against Norfolk Southern over the February 3, 2023 derailment and toxic spill in East Palestine, Ohio on behalf of certain named individual local residents and business owners as well as a class of all others similarly affected.

The train derailment and ensuing massive fire and toxic spill in East Palestine, Ohio included at least 14 train cars filled with vinyl chloride and others containing equally hazardous materials, whose contents were released and exposed to fire. Many residents were forced to evacuate, while others were told to just shelter in place while the toxic plume invaded their properties and businesses.

Vinyl chloride is associated with liver cancer and other cancers. Freezing temperatures complicated response attempts as firefighters from three states joined to combat what was described as a major fire across the Ohio countryside, fire which itself further dispersed a wide variety of toxic contaminants.

Local residents reported frustration and fear, as the environmental impact came into view and questions about long-term effects lingered.

Lieff Cabraser has been pursuing environmental and social justice since 1972. We possesses the expertise and financial resources to thoroughly investigate fires and environmental exposure cases and hold those responsible accountable. We have successfully prosecuted cases against many of the world’s most powerful corporations obtaining nearly $30 billion in recoveries, including for families, businesses and property owners throughout the U.S.