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Good crosshairs4/10/2023 With a population of about 5,000 people, there are roughly 2,600 residential properties in East Palestine according to Attom, a property data provider. Paying the homeowners and businesses wouldn’t necessarily be difficult for Norfolk Southern. Norfolk can afford to compensate homeowners Once the cameras move on, once the national attention dies down, where will these families be? I think they’re going to be in the crosshairs of the accountants of Norfolk Southern saying ‘We’re not going to pay full compensation.’” “These families want to know long term are they just going to be left behind. “Will you commit to insuring that these families, these innocent families do not lose their life savings in their homes and small businesses? The right thing to do is to say, ‘Yes we will.’” Markey told Shaw. Markey said that wasn’t an acceptable answer. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked Shaw four different times to commit to compensating homeowners, only to hear Shaw repeatedly reply, “Senator, I’m committed to do what’s right.” Stewart isn’t the only one that was angry with Shaw and Norfolk Southern for the railroad’s refusal to offer to compensate the community for the property value that has been destroyed by the derailment.Īt Thursday’s Senate hearing on the crash, Sen. “At whose expense are we going to do things to make sure it’s okay?” “At whose expense? That’s the biggest issue right now,” said Stewart. In addition, Stewart believes it would cost a lot to do the repairs and tests to ensure the home is safe. I’ll be lucky to get what I paid for it, if that,” he said of the estimate. Lack of transactions since then make a current estimate difficult. The property was worth about $135,000 a month ago, according to an estimate from Zillow. Stewart fears he lost a tremendous amount of the value of his home, which he bought in 2016 for $85,000. Homeowners are worried that in addition to any health risks from the chemical release, the derailment has greatly diminished the value of their homes. Now I’m just stuck.”Īn aerial view from February 6 shows a plume of smoke, following a train derailment that forced people to evacuate from their homes in East Palestine, Ohio. I’m still working,” he says he told Shaw. Stewart works as a manager at a commercial baking company. “I lost everything now,” Stewart says he told Shaw. Shaw was asked point blank by another resident if Norfolk Southern was ready to buy Stewart’s house, he replied only, “we’re going to do what’s right for this community.” That wasn’t satisfactory for Stewart or many of the other participants at the Town Hall. Our value went phoom,” pointing his hands down. Stewart, 65, recently voiced his fury and sadness about what he lost to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on a February 22 Town Hall about the derailment on CNN. We don’t know if the ground is going to be good enough to grow grass. “Who is going to buy contaminated land? The older people are willing to stay and live it out. “Since the derailment, I lost all those options,” he said. Alternatively, they talked about his son’s family buying a house that was on the market down the street from Stewart.īut even though state officials are saying the water is safe to drink, convincing potential homebuyers otherwise is an uphill battle. He and his wife hoped to put their three-bedroom home on the market this spring, as prices were still high and inventory was low. Then came the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train on February 3, releasing toxic chemicals into the air and nearby water, and he fears crashing the value of his home. Jim Stewart was getting ready to sell his home in East Palestine, Ohio, and retire.
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