Per this source, a 25 mile radius includes 585,000 people. That means (before lawyer fees so imagine half in actuality), Norfolk-Southern wants to give $1,000 per person for permanently poisoning not only their property but their body which is now forever scarred. This was filed for approval by the Plaintiff (people hurt) but as shown in the story and simple math show this can’t be appropriate for a company with billions in revenue. Unfortunately this may also (not sure about insurance’s involvement) represent a third of their cash on hand 2023 Annual Report pdf page 58/their k48. I personally believe this is unjust and would love to hear other opinions and/or other information such as the index number for this (I have not diligently searched/PACER looked, but usually at least one news sources mentions a caption or docket number).
There is usually an “opt-out” procedure, but it is often a small window(30-60 days), and its unclear what happens if you do (you have to sue individually, and your class action lawyer might not represent you anymore).