There was much discussion during the nearly eight-hour board meeting of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on June 25. The result was 30 recommendations designed to ensure that derailments like the one in East Palestine never happen again.

Before those recommendations were made, however, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy made some serious allegations against Norfolk Southern during the panel’s investigation into the incidents.

This includes attempts to undermine the NTSB’s investigation in various ways, even going so far as to threaten the panel over its final report.

Norfolk is accused of attempting four times to present its own investigation into the derailment under the guise of a party submission, Homendy said during the hearing.

The parties are permitted to submit to the NTSB written proposals for findings based on evidence discovered during the investigation.

However, Homendy said Norfolk “fabricated its own evidence and developed its own facts outside of the NTSB’s investigative process.”

When that didn’t work out in their favor, Homendy claims Norfolk Southern bypassed the investigator in charge and presented its “findings” directly to the board on May 1.

The company also asked the board to overrule the decision of the lead investigator and instruct him and his staff to incorporate the findings they submitted into the investigation.

“This shows a complete disregard for the process of our independent investigation,” Homendy said during the hearing. “In speaking with the investigative and legal teams, Norfolk Southern’s abuse of the party process was unprecedented and reprehensible.”

Two weeks before yesterday’s board meeting, Norfolk Southern met with the board. A company executive said there was “real interest from the Justice Department and the government to move forward.”

They then told the board that this was an opportunity to close a chapter and allow the community and the railroad company to move on.

“The entire exchange ended with a threat that everyone from the NTSB in the room felt,” Homendy said. “It’s not our job to defend Norfolk Southern. We’re here to protect the American people and travelers.”

A few days before the meeting, the company invited the NTSB to tour key points at the derailment site and a new digital train inspection portal in Leetonia. Homendy says that invitation violated the panel’s ethical standards.

“Norfolk Southern’s actions were unconscionable,” Homendy concluded. “…We are immune to anything but the truth…I will not allow anyone to tarnish the reputation of the investigating officers, because that was Norfolk Southern’s goal.”

21 News has reached out to Norfolk Southern for comment and is awaiting a response.