Norfolk Southern Corp. showed “an apparent lack of transparency” in the days after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in Ohio, the chairman of a Senate committee said Thursday in the first congressional hearing about last month’s accident.
(Bloomberg) — Norfolk Southern Corp. showed “an apparent lack of transparency” in the days after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in Ohio, the chairman of a Senate committee said Thursday in the first congressional hearing about last month’s accident.
Senator Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat who leads the Environment and Public Works Committee, chided the “mistrust” the railroad created with local residents after the Feb. 3 incident. Norfolk Southern’s chief executive officer says the company is “determined to make it right.”
The derailment set off a political inferno and has led federal agencies to open broader reviews of the railroad’s safety practices. While no one was directly injured by the train wreck, it forced people to temporarily evacuate their homes and has raised tough questions about the way chemicals are transported across the US.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said in prepared testimony that the railroad has committed to $20 million in reimbursements and other payments in East Palestine, Ohio — the site of the derailment — and is urgently working to remove waste from the area.
“To date, nearly 600 homes have been screened; none of the results indicate a health risk from incident-related substances,” Shaw said in remarks submitted to a Senate committee in advance of the hearing. “We are committed to this monitoring for as long as necessary.”
Dozens of rail cars jumped the tracks in East Palestine after a wheel bearing failed, prompting a fire and, days later, the burning of toxic vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion. A string of other accidents, including a fatal wreck involving a Norfolk Southern train in Cleveland on March 7, have raised more questions about the company’s safety record.
Shaw is likely to face harsh questioning from lawmakers. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginian who is the ranking Republican on the committee, told reporters Wednesday that she would demand Norfolk Southern pay for all damages.
“The people of East Palestine need to know that we care,” Capito said.
Shaw said in his prepared remarks that the railroad operator is funding a center to assist more than 4,200 families as well as reimbursing firefighters and making payments to local schools.
The company is also working to improve its safety based in part on findings so far in the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, he said. He defended the engineers on the East Palestine train, saying they were operating below the speed limit and followed proper protocols.
Analysts at UBS AG said in a research note Thursday that there’s “significant momentum” in Congress to pass legislation tightening safety at freight railroads, but details of such a measure remain unclear.
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