YOUNGSTOWN — The plaintiffs in 21 lawsuits filed against Norfolk Southern over the Feb. 3 East Palestine derailment have agreed to consolidate the lawsuits into one action with an amended, consolidated class-action complaint being filed in the coming months.

The number of lawsuits grew from 18 to 22 since Judge Benita Y. Pearson of U.S. District Court asked the parties Feb. 8 to file a joint motion regarding possible consolidation of the cases.

One of the 22 parties does not want to join the group.

The judge had asked that the parties propose by March 15 a “class counsel organizational structure” for the litigation and for the parties to provide the “views of all counsel” in a single document.

Wednesday’s filing stated that all but one of the 22 plaintiffs agreed to consolidate, saying it “is the most efficient way to organize this litigation.” Norfolk Southern agreed that consolidation was appropriate, the filing states.

The parties agreed that an amended, consolidated complaint shall be filed within 45 days after Pearson files an order permitting the consolidation.

The plaintiffs propose that Norfolk Southern have 30 days to respond to the consolidated lawsuit, but Norfolk Southern proposed that it have 60 days. The company would no longer have to respond to any of the 22 individual lawsuits, the filing states.

The filing also states the three attorneys Pearson appointed to lead the consolidation will continue to coordinate the cases and such issues as providing access to expert witnesses to the derailment site in order to collect samples for analysis, including the areas under the two main sets of rail tracks at the site.

The filing states that the “good-faith efforts” of the parties to the lawsuits “have resulted in the remediation of the derailment site continuous without any delays caused by the need to collect samples for purpose of litigation.”

It states that “Main Track 1 has been lifted, and samples have been collected.”

It states that the parties are still waiting to hear when Norfolk Southern will be allowed to start lifting Main Track 2 “so that plaintiffs experts can be granted access and collect soil samples from under the track. It is presently unknown when this will occur, but at this time and subject to change, it appears unlikely to occur in March.”

The joint filing was submitted by attorneys Jayne Conroy, Seth Katz, M. Elizabeth Graham and Michael Morgan. Conroy is part of legal team that filed the first lawsuit over the derailment. It was filed within several of days of the derailment.

That suit sought to be a class action and was filed by three East Palestine residents — Harold R. Feezle of state Route 14 and David J. and Susan E. Scheufele of East Clark Street “on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated.”

The suit alleged the derailment and Feb. 3 “chemical spill” “was proximately caused by the negligence of” Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and / or Norfolk Southern Corp. It stated that Feezle and the Scheufeles and other possible class-action members “were forced to evacuate and be involuntarily displaced from their homes and businesses.”

The matter can qualify as a class action because the “controversy exceeds the sum of $5 million,” the suit alleged.

Feezle owns a business at 50263 state Route 14, the suit states. That address is associated with Rollerena Auto Sales. It is part of the area that was evacuated. “Mr. Feezle was forced to close his business during the time of the forced evacuation and suffered damages therefrom,” the suit states.

The Scheufeles had to evacuate their home on East Clark Street and “suffered damages therefrom” and also “suffered injuries as a direct and proximate result of his exposure to the toxic chemicals and fumes emanating from the accident site,” the suit alleges.

The plaintiffs in one of the four newest lawsuits filed in the derailment — by CeramFab — do not consent to being part of the consolidated case, the filing notes.

The filing notes that the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost against Norfolk Southern is not addressed in the joint filing.

The joint filing also notes that Norfolk Southern does not concede that “any of the requirements for (class-action) certification … have been met” for any of the lawsuits to become class-action cases.

erunyan@vindy.com