EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown appealed to the Department of Justice to listen to the concerns of East Palestine residents regarding the terms of the $310 million settlement between Norfolk Southern and the federal government.

Brown, D-Ohio, made the appeal through a press release on Friday.

“From the start, I have demanded that Norfolk Southern pay for all the damage it caused to East Palestine and the surrounding communities,” Brown said. “The Village of East Palestine has been clear that they are not satisfied with parts of this settlement, especially when it comes to securing necessary funds for health services and monitoring. I urge the Department of Justice to listen to the community and ensure that the people of East Palestine get the medical care and monitoring they need and that Norfolk Southern pays for it.”

Earlier this week, the village issued a press release of its own highlighting what it considers shortcomings in the proposed settlement which was first announced in May. The village’s concerns primarily centered around public health — health services, medical testing, medical treatment and medical monitoring.

In the letter, the village said a number of changes are needed to the deal, which was brokered by the DOJ on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remedy damages incurred by last year’s train derailment and chemical release, to protect its residents from potential health impact.

The village called for a significant increase to the $25 million the settlement allocates for the Community Health Program as well as specific tests to determine chemical exposure and a detailed system that would allow medical data to be shared easily among health professionals and agencies.

Brown’s urging of the DOJ to weigh the concerns and suggestions of the village coincides with prior action from the senator and other lawmakers when advocating for the communities impacted by the rail disaster. In May, before the tentative federal settlement was announced, Brown’s East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act, which was co-sponsored by Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, passed out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in a bipartisan vote. The legislation would require a study on the public health impacts of the train derailment in East Palestine. The study would assess the human health impacts of both the derailment and subsequent vent-and-burn of five tank cars of vinyl chloride. The bill will secure $2 million for continued long-term health monitoring. Brown also called on Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to provide a voluntary disease registry for residents.

Brown’s efforts to successfully establish the East Palestine Derailment Response Residential Well Sampling Project that provides the Columbiana County Health District with $2 million to provide sampling for 250 residential also aligns with the village’s request that the DOJ settlement does more to keep the municipal and private drinking water supplies free from derailment-related contaminants. While Brown’s program provides funds for more robust private well testing, the village asked the DOJ to implement a more detailed plan of action should water integrity be compromised.

Brown’s criticism of the DOJ settlement is shared by both Vance and Ohio Attorney Dave Yost that called the deal premature and lacking during a town hall at East Palestine High School in July.

At it stands and in addition to the $25 million for a 20-year community health program which would provide medical monitoring for qualified individuals consisting of at least 10 free annual medical exams over a 15-year period, the DOJ settlement requires Norfolk Southern to pay a $15 million civil penalty to resolve the alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, an estimated $235 million for all past and future cleanup costs and $30 million to fund a drinking water monitoring fund for municipal and private supplies. The decent decree also requires railroad safety improvements as does the Railway Safety Act of 2023 — another bipartisan effort from Vance and Brown that was introduced on March 1, 2023. That bill has yet to make it to the Senate floor a year and half later.

Residents had until Aug. 2 to make a public comment regarding the federal settlement and the DOJ set up office hours at EPA Welcome Center in East Palestine over a two-day period in July to discuss the terms of the settlement and address resident questions. The settlement awaits final approval by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.