EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – A married couple who owns a tavern and rental property on East Taggert Street has filed a complaint against Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. of Atlanta for $5 million, alleging the train derailment here nearly two years ago destroyed their lives and business.
The complaint, filed by Kelly Likovich and Terry Berresford of New Galilee, Pa., states that the couple was forced to evacuate their home and close their business, State Line Tavern, and lost rental income in the aftermath of the disaster.
According to papers filed Jan. 10 with the Columbiana County Common Pleas court, the couple alleges that Norfolk Southern was negligent and careless, resulting in the derailment that then “released this noxious and poisonous chemical into the direct and proximate area of the plaintiff’s long-term home and business.”
The couple was then forced to shut down their tavern and evacuate their rental property, which remains vacant, court papers say. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Norfolk Southern was to clean and restore State Line Tavern and the rental property, but that cleanup has not taken place and is expected to cost the business owners “thousands of dollars.”
Court documents say the disaster caused “great and irreparable injuries” to the plaintiff’s financial well-being, “completely destroying their business and personal income” and affecting their emotional and physical health in the form of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and insomnia. The couple – Likovich is 66 and Berresford is 75 – was also relying on the income to fund their retirement, court papers say.
“All of the carefully laid plans of the plaintiffs have therefore been completely and permanently destroyed by the combined willful negligence of the defendants,” court documents say.
Norfolk Southern has not yet filed a response to the complaint. A hearing before Judge Scott Washam has been scheduled for March 12.
East Palestine was devastated by the train derailment Feb. 3, 2023, that led to a toxic leakage of chemicals throughout the community.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said previously that the derailment was likely caused by an overheating bearing that wasn’t caught in time by the trackside detectors the railroad relies on to spot mechanical problems. The head of the NTSB also said that the five tank cars filled with vinyl chloride didn’t need to be blown open to prevent an explosion because they were actually starting to cool off even though the fire continued to burn around them.
The company announced in May 2024 it would pay a $15 million fine to the federal government and that April announced it had reached a $600 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by those impacted by the disaster.
Pictured at top: This photo taken with a drone on Feb. 4, 2023, shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo | Gene J. Puskar, File)