BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Baltimore on Wednesday approved a $1.75 million settlement in the class action lawsuit stemming from a December 2021 CSX coal terminal explosion in Curtis Bay.

Describing the agreement as “equitable and in the best interest of the parties,” U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox said he was signing an order to finalize the settlement.

The payout amounts to about $3,000 per eligible property in the area surrounding CSX’s facility in Curtis Bay, where a Dec. 30, 2021, explosion expelled a plume of coal dust, releasing harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide.

About 31% of the $1.75 million sum went to attorney fees and expenses.

“I’m happy we were able to resolve the case for this community,” plaintiffs attorney Jonathan Nace told The Baltimore Sun after court. “I hope that with lawsuits and settlements like this we can discourage and prevent future acts that cause real pollution and harm to residents who live near facilities like this and have every right to live in a clean and healthy environment.”

An attorney for CSX declined to comment. In a statement, CSX spokesman Austin Staton described the explosion as an anomaly.

“The CSX Curtis Bay coal pier has been operating for over 140 years without an incident like this and we remain thankful that the one-time event did not result in any injuries,” Staton said.

Melvin and Donna Harrison, who attended the hearing Wednesday, described the roughly $3,000 payout as insufficient.

“My husband and I bought a home and we got cancer,” Donna Harrison said after court.

She added they still regularly wipe black dust from their house’s storm doors and windows. They also have a dog and a house cat that “we got to be careful with.”

The lawsuit, originally filed on behalf of Cheyenne Shongo and Kennett Walker, grew to include hundreds of residents who alleged their community was “blanketed” by coal dust following the explosion.

Curtis Bay residents continue to push back against the CSX coal terminal, where the carbon energy source arrives by rail from Appalachia — as well as the Illinois, Colorado and Powder river basins — for storage and export. Residents want regulators to close the facility.

State regulators, however, recently issued a draft air quality permit that would allow the coal terminal to continue operating with conditions that it do more to reduce the coal blown off the facility.

CSX did face fines in the aftermath of the explosion from the likes of the Maryland Department of the Environment. The explosion happened because methane built up inside a tunnel at the facility, which MDE says the company failed to take “reasonable precautions” to prevent.

A settlement with MDE required CSX to pay $15,000 to the state and $100,000 to a community group, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration also fined the company $121,000 for worker safety violations leading up to the explosion.

Staton outlined the measures the company has undertaken to improve worker safety and reduce pollution over the last five years. CSX spent $60 million over that timeframe to mitigate dust pollution, improve worker safety and “and collect 100% of storm water for onsite reuse at our facility.”

“CSX remains steadfast in our long-term commitment to ensuring the safety and health of our employees and our neighboring communities and we look forward to continuing to be an integral member of the Baltimore community for generations to come,” Staton said.

However, concerns still pop up. On Monday, MDE issued the facility a notice of violation of the Maryland Air Quality Act after track maintenance there last Thursday stirred up a cloud of “particulate matter” — likely coal dust — that an easterly wind blew into the Curtis Bay neighborhood. CSX was advised to take steps to prevent a recurrence.

Staton said CSX was reviewing the notice.

“Last week, CSX conducted routine track maintenance work at our Curtis Bay Piers facility, which included cross-tie and ballast rock replacement,” Staton said. “This routine maintenance is critical to ensuring safe operating conditions for railroad equipment. The dust produced during this track work was not a result of coal handling operations. Supplemental dust suppression equipment was brought in to reduce dust migration and finish the work.”

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