Norfolk Southern responsible for accident | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – The head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday that Norfolk Southern repeatedly tried to influence the agency’s investigation into the East Palestine train derailment and sway its conclusions regarding the erroneous decision to blow up five tank cars and burn the vinyl chloride inside.

The committee also confirmed at Tuesday’s hearing that the February 2023 derailment was caused by a wheel bearing that, according to video, was ablaze more than 20 miles earlier but was not detected in time by inaccurate detectors on the track. The committee also adopted more than two dozen recommendations to prevent similar disasters, including setting federal rules for those detectors and how railroads respond to them, and reviewing how officials decide whether to ever conduct a vent-and-burn again.

More than three dozen freight cars derailed on the edge of East Palestine near the Pennsylvania border on February 3, 2023, including 11 carrying hazardous materials. Some residents were evacuated that night, but days later more were forced to leave their homes fearing an explosion. Despite potential health effects, officials intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride three days after the accident, sending flames and smoke into the air.

At the end of the meeting, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy accused Norfolk Southern of interfering in the investigation and abusing its status as a party to the investigation to assist in gathering information.

“Norfolk Southern’s abuse of the party process was unprecedented and reprehensible,” she said.

According to Homendy, the railroad company has repeatedly been late in providing information to investigators or has not provided it at all. On two occasions, Homendy called the railroad company at the request of investigators and threatened to issue subpoenas for information, she said.

A railroad contractor told investigators he did not make or keep records of temperature changes in the tank cars filled with vinyl chloride, she said. But the board suspected otherwise.

“We discovered that they were keeping these records through text messages from one of their employees, who shared this information in later interviews,” Homendy said. “It took about two months for the team to receive these texts and emails.”

Some of the findings discussed Tuesday were no surprise, as the safety panel has already released some of the information about this investigation, but the hearing revealed the most details yet about the overheated bearing and the failure of detectors on the track to detect the high temperatures. The panel also addressed why the decision to intentionally dump and burn the vinyl chloride was wrong.

After discussing that a trackside detector in Salem, Ohio, failed to accurately measure storage temperatures, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said Norfolk Southern and its contractors compromised the integrity of the vent-and-burn decision by withholding information from Oxy Vinyls, the manufacturer of the vinyl chloride, including evidence that the tank cars had cooled after the accident.

The officials who made the decision said they never received any information to suggest that dumping and burning was not their only option.

“Norfolk Southern and its contractors continued to insist on the need for venting and burning, even though the available evidence should have led them to reconsider their initial conclusion,” said investigator Paul Stancil.

The railroad again defended the decision Tuesday, saying it was based on more than just the temperature readings. Officials also had concerns about the pressure relief devices on the tank cars malfunctioning, although Homendy said some of those fears were unfounded if investigators’ findings were believed. Norfolk Southern added that nothing stopped Oxy Vinyls from participating in the command center discussion and voicing its opinion about the tank cars.

Oxy Vinyls experts testified at previous hearings that they were confident that a feared chemical reaction that could have caused the tank cars to explode did not occur. Oxy Vinyls did not address questions about its role in the venting and incineration decision in a statement Tuesday.

Norfolk Southern stressed in its statement that it recommended the venting and burning for safety reasons. Homendy said a company executive told the board in a private meeting two weeks ago that Norfolk Southern wanted to put an end to the “rumor” that the railroad made the decision to get trains moving again more quickly.

According to her, the exchange ended with a threat from the railway company.

“It has been conveyed that we will use every opportunity and opportunity to vigorously defend their decision-making in the media and at hearings. That is your right. But it is not our job to defend Norfolk Southern. We are here to protect the American people and travelers,” Homendy said.

Shortly before Homendy began her rebuke, Norfolk Southern had just issued a lengthy statement pledging to review the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations and work to improve safety. In response, railroad spokesman Tom Crosson said Norfolk Southern has consistently tried to provide the board with all the relevant information it needs.

“Norfolk Southern has cooperated fully, ethically and with complete transparency in the investigation at all times,” Crosson said.

But the top safety expert for the largest railroad union, who was involved in the panel’s investigation, said that while these findings highlight concerns about Norfolk Southern, he worries about the commitment to safety of all major Class I railroads. Jared Cassity of the SMART-TD union said Union Pacific’s recent efforts to undermine regulators’ safety investigation are one of the latest examples.

“She made NS sound like they were all alone on an island. But in my opinion, all Class One members are kind of the same beast,” Cassity said.

Misti Allison, an East Palestine resident, said the community is still concerned about potential health effects from the vinyl chloride and the toxic cocktail of other chemicals that leaked and burned during the derailment, and they also now know that the railroad company has not always been forthcoming.

“Community members have a right to transparency and proactive protection, not the silence, secrecy and manipulation that came to light today in the Norfolk Southern case,” Allison said.

The safety board said first responders need good guidance on when to consider venting and burning as a last resort to save lives. Until recently, they had not even had access to previous reports on the subject because the railroads had insisted it was sensitive safety information.

Norfolk Southern has already settled with the federal government and announced a $600 million class-action lawsuit with local residents, so it’s unclear what further consequences the railroad will face beyond continuing to pay for cleanup work overseen by the EPA. Ohio and Pennsylvania have not yet completed their investigations, however, so the states may do more to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.

While the panel’s recommendations are not binding, given the headlines surrounding rail safety, Congress may be willing to implement some of them.

Over a year ago, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Ohio’s two senators proposed a package of reforms that would have included mandating two-person crews and setting standards for inspections and detectors designed to prevent derailments. The bill ultimately stalled in the U.S. Senate due to opposition from Republicans and railroad companies.

“The findings announced today by NTSB Chairman Homendy confirm many of my worst fears,” said Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance. “The derailment and the chemical explosion that followed were preventable tragedies resulting from a series of errors by Norfolk Southern and its contractors.”

Federal regulators also pushed railroads, with limited success, to make changes such as signing up for an anonymous government hotline to report safety concerns. The industry responded to the accident by promising to install more detectors on the tracks, review their use and help emergency responders better deal with derailments through more training and better access to information about the load.

Jami Wallace takes a photo of a video display during a National Transportation Safety Board meeting to discuss the investigation into the Norfolk Southern train derailment, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

A Norfolk Southern freight train travels through the area where cleanup efforts continue after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed more than a year ago, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks during a board meeting about the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials on Feb. 3, 2023, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

A Norfolk Southern freight train travels through the area where cleanup efforts continue after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed more than a year ago, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

FILE – Debris from a Norfolk Southern freight train lies scattered and burning along the tracks Feb. 4, 2023, a day after it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. East Palestine residents will learn more Tuesday about the fiery Norfolk Southern train crash that claimed their lives last year when the National Transportation Safety Board holds another hearing in their eastern Ohio hometown to discuss the findings of its investigation and its recommendations for preventing future disasters. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Jami Wallace, center, talks with other spectators during a break at a National Transportation Safety Board meeting on the investigation into the Norfolk Southern train derailment, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks during a board meeting about the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials on Feb. 3, 2023, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)