NTSB votes on investigation into Ohio train derailment

After a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last year and released chemicals throughout the community, the National Transportation Safety Board examined what happened and why.

The agency will hold a meeting on Tuesday to vote on its findings. A key question is whether Norfolk Southern provided all relevant information to decision-makers as the disaster unfolded.

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What happened?

On Friday evening, February 3, 2023, the Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, and fires blazed in the smoldering tank cars throughout the weekend.

An image from drone video taken on February 5, 2023, of the Norfolk Southern train derailment near East Palestine, Ohio. Image: National Transportation Safety Board

A unified task force was quickly formed, including Norfolk Southern, emergency responders and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, and led by East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick.

This Monday, Drabick stood behind the governor at a press conferenceas DeWine explained why he and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents within a two-mile radius of the derailment site — more than 2,000 people.

“The vinyl chloride inventory of five railroad cars is currently unstable and could explode, releasing deadly shrapnel and toxic fumes,” DeWine said.

He then pointed to a map with a red circle within a one-mile radius of the derailment site: “People in the red zone are in grave danger of death. People in the orange zone are at serious risk of injury, including skin burns and severe lung damage.”

Screenshot of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine pointing to the evacuation zones in East Palestine on February 6, 2023, as evacuation orders were announced and the “Vent and Burn” program would be initiated later that same day. Source: WKYC News 3, Cleveland.

DeWine explained that to avoid this, they would drain the vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic chemical, from the cars and burn it.

But that afternoon, during the venting and burning operations, an explosion occurred, and a huge dark cloud of smoke could be seen for miles around East Palestine, leaving ash on people’s lawns and cars and contaminating the entire community with chemicals.

A drone view over David Anderson’s farm in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, 4.2 miles from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 6, 2023, as Norfolk Southern conducted a controlled release and burn of vinyl chloride from the destroyed train cars. Image courtesy of David Anderson.

So how did the Joint Command decide that venting and burning were necessary?

The NTSB hearings held in eastern Palestine last summer and examined topics such as freight car wheel bearings, defect detectors on the railway, and the timing of emergency response.

Robert Wood, director of Norfolk Southern’s hazardous materials department, testified that one of the vinyl chloride cars appeared to be undergoing a chemical process that was feared could lead to an explosion.

““We have observed, in our opinion, numerous signs of polymerization in the tank cars transporting vinyl chloride,” Wood said.

Drew McCarty, a hazardous materials contractor for Norfolk Southern, testified that one of those signs was the car’s rising temperature.

That Sunday, a fire had gone out near the car. When he first checked, the gauge showed 57 degrees Celsius. Over the next hour, it rose to 52 degrees Celsius.

“So at that moment, before we met the boss and his staff, the trend was rising,” McCarty said. He said there was only one way to deal with it.

“And all of the data resources and all of our collective experience gave us legitimate concerns about polymerization and a lack of tactical options other than venting and burning,” he said.

Norfolk Southern’s Robert Wood put it this way: “Due to factors that made other options too dangerous and potentially ineffective, the incident commander determined, given the circumstances and the information available at the time, that a controlled venting and burning was the best and safest course of action.”

Chief Drabick, the incident commander, testified at the hearing that Norfolk Southern had not expressed any dissenting views and told him and Governor DeWine they had 13 minutes to decide whether to authorize the venting and burn.

“I gave the final ‘yes’ because everyone in the unified command agreed that there was no other option,” said Drabick.

But there was other opinions will be presented to Norfolk Southern

Dallas-based company OxyVinyls owned the vinyl chloride and sent a team to eastern Palestine.

Paul Thomas, vice president of health, safety and security for Oxyvinyls, testified that by Monday morning, the temperature in that car had dropped 12 degrees and stabilized at 126 degrees.

“It is clear to all of us that no polymerization took place in this car,” said Thomas.

But this message did not reach the decision-makers.

“We were not part of the Unified Incident Command and did not participate in the decision to conduct the vent and burn operation, nor did we recommend it,” Thomas said.

Preview of NTSB findings: Venting and burning should not have happened

During an independent Senate hearing last March, Jennifer Homendy of the NTSB asked by Ohio Senator JD Vance, whether the controlled burning was necessary because the temperature in the train cars had dropped.

“It was well stabilized long before the air leaked and burned – many hours before,” she said.

NTSB Investigation of the Norfolk Southern Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Group D / Exhibit 8. Temperature Chart with Timeline for OCPX80370 (Vinyl Chloride Tank Car) February 5 – 6, 2023

Homendy also explained that for the car that was causing them the most concern, there was another option: “Let it cool down. It cooled down.”

However, Homendy said Norfolk Southern never informed Chief Drabick and the Unified Command of this option.

“Oxyvinyl was on site, they were let out of the room, the commander didn’t even know they existed and neither did the governor.

Therefore, they were provided with incomplete information to make their decision,” she said.

Norfolk Southern said in an email that security was the top priority of all those involved and described the venting and burning as successful.

The railroad company said it stands by the decision to conduct the controlled fire, as do Governor DeWine and Chief Drabick.

What difference could the NTSB’s findings make?

The NTSB is not a regulatory agency and therefore cannot issue new rules. However, it does make recommendations to improve railroad safety that Congress and regulators can consider. And while the NTSB’s findings are not admissible in civil proceedings, they can still have an impact.

Last week, Ohio Attorney General David Yost said He said he would not sign a $310 million settlement between Norfolk Southern and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) until the NTSB investigation was completed on Tuesday so that the results could be taken into account in the negotiations.