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Ohio Prisoner’s Suit Claims Exposure to Toxic Chemicals Released in Train Derailment

On May 31, 2023, the federal court for the Northern District of Ohio consolidated a state prisoner’s pro se suit into a class-action with almost 30 others that have been filed over exposure to toxic vinyl chloride that was spilled in a train derailment three months earlier. Josh Turner, 30, was serving a four-year sentence for robbery and assault at the state penitentiary in Youngstown, 25 miles away from East Palestine, where the train derailed on February 3, 2023. His complaint against Norfolk-Southern Railway CEO Alan Shaw, which was partially handwritten, claimed that chemical fumes released during a controlled burn to clean up after the mishap left the prisoner suffering rashes, headaches, chest pain and respiratory problems, in violation of his Eighth Amendment guarantee of freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. PLN will update developments in the case as they are available. See: In re Palestine Train Derailment, USDC (N.D. Ohio), Case No. 4:23-cv-00242.  

Additional source: WKBN

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Related legal case

In re Palestine Train Derailment