EAST PALESTINE — With Kroll Administration officially removed as the settlement administrator responsible for determining and distributing awards from Norfolk Southern’s $600 million class action settlement, many are left wondering about the fate of their claims.

But claims aren’t the only thing that Kroll had a hand in determining before getting the boot for, among other things, miscalculating award amounts.

Kroll’s declaration that the appeal process would lead to the firm billing lead counsel an additional $825,000 in administrative costs is what led U.S. Northern District Judge Benita Pearson — the same judge who ordered Kroll relieved of its duties last week — to issue a ruling that required residents appealing the settlement to post a staggering $850,000 bond.

That fact hasn’t escaped David Graham, the attorney representing the Rev. Joseph Sheely, Zsuzsa Troyan, Tamara Freeze, Sharon Lynch and Carly Tunno.

“It’s hard to ignore the irony — and the concern — that the company whose inflated and unverified cost estimates were used to justify an $850,000 appeal bond has now been removed from overseeing the settlement itself. That alone should give people pause,” Graham said. “Kroll claimed it would cost $825,000 just to hold on to funds and process partial payments during the appeal. But that figure wasn’t backed up by any itemized accounting, just a vague declaration from one of their own executives. No detailed breakdown. No documentation. Nothing.”

In December, Pearson ruled that each of the five appealing residents is responsible for $170,000 toward the total bond based on the $825,000 extra-cost estimate from Kroll and another $25,000 of added expenses projected by the lawyers who brokered the deal.

Graham had questioned both the validity of the amount quoted by Kroll and the fairness of an appeal bond all together considering the financial difficulties that the derailment had already caused his clients. Pearson called it merely a guardrail while Graham called it a roadblock.

Graham still believes it’s a blockade meant to leave his clients no choice but to throw in the towel.

“An appeal bond is supposed to cover actual costs — not be used to price people out of the courtroom,” Graham said. “In this case, the bond has effectively shut down the ability of everyday families to challenge a $600 million deal that waived their rights to future claims and the rights of nearly 200,000 households. That’s not how justice is supposed to work.”

And Graham argues if the court lost faith in Kroll’s competence to perform the service they were hired to do — a service for which the New York-based firm was already paid over $2 million — the court should be equally skeptical of Kroll’s estimate of the extra-costs the appeal process would generate.

“The court adopted that number without real scrutiny, and now it turns out the estimate came from an entity that’s been removed for mismanagement and questionable conduct. That matters.” Graham said. “If the court’s bond order was based on figures from a company that’s no longer trusted to manage the settlement, how can the underlying assumption of those costs be trusted? At the very least, this development demands that the court revisit the bond decision. It could very well warrant eliminating the bond entirely.”

Graham has already asked the Cincinnati Sixth Circuit of Appeals in Youngstown to do just that — long before Kroll was removed. That motion has yet to be ruled on by the three-judge panel.

“These families didn’t cause the disaster in East Palestine. All they’re asking for is a fair shot to hold Norfolk Southern accountable,” Graham added. “That chance shouldn’t depend on whether five people can come up with nearly a million dollars based on numbers from a now-dismissed administrator.”

Co-lead counsel requested that Pearson remove Kroll and name Epiq as the new settlement administrator last week. Pearson agreed. It was not disclosed how much Epiq will earn from the case. Kroll had anticipated billing an additional $14.6 million to complete the settlement process without an appeal.

Kroll was to be paid out of the $18 million for expenses Pearson granted co-counsel. Added to the $162 in legal fees, the attorneys, who were paid within 14 days of final approval that was granted last August, pocketed $180 million for their work on the case.