John,

Last week a toxin-filled freight train slid off the rails spilling poisonous chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. But the rail operator responsible, Norfolk Southern, is already trying to dodge responsibility for cleaning up this toxic mess.

The derailed train was carrying five train-car loads of a cancer-causing chemical called vinyl chloride, which is linked to an increased risk of rare brain and liver cancers. 

This week the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the chemical has seeped into the Ohio river basin - which supplies water to millions. Thousands of fish have been found dead.

Barely anyone knows that Norfolk Southern is responsible for this terrible disaster - but if we put the public spotlight on the company and demand it covers the clean up bill, the company won’t be able to walk away scot free.

Tell Norfolk Southern to foot the bill for this toxic spill

Behind the scenes, panicking Norfolk Southern execs know that they could be facing eye watering fines and massive lawsuits - which is why they’re trying to buy off residents with $1000 ‘inconvenience’ checks seemingly in return for residents to waive any future claim against the company.

These shady tactics are true to form for a company that for years has put profit over safety. Norfolk Southern has slashed jobs and lobbied against better safety measures on the railways, all the while paying out millions to shareholders. Railroad Workers United said last week’s tragedy was a disaster years in the making.

In 2012 a train crashed in Paulsboro, New Jersey spilling tens of thousands of gallons of vinyl chloride - two years later over half the residents reported health problems. Five times that amount of vinyl chloride was spilled in East Palestine.

We won’t know the true impact of this catastrophe for some time but we do know that Norfolk Southern must publicly commit to covering the full cost.

Tell Norfolk Southern to foot the bill for this toxic spill

We’ve taken on some of the biggest corporate criminals before and won. When Bangladeshi workers lost their lives at the Rana Plaza garment factory, the Ekō community held global fashion giant H&M to account.

Now let’s do it again and force this billion-dollar company to pay up.