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train derailment
'Reprehensible': NTSB Chair Says Norfolk Southern Interfered With East Palestine Probe
The NTSB chair said the company tried to "manufacture" evidence, avoided sharing information, and threatened agency staff as she released findings from a 17-month investigation into the East Palestine disaster.
Jun 26, 2024
The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday condemned Norfolk Southern for interfering with its investigation into last year's East Palestine train crash and the "vent and burn" of harmful chemicals that followed.
The remarks came at the final NTSB hearing on the disaster, in which the agency released a preliminary report—damning to Norfolk Southern and its contractors—from a 17-month investigation. NTSB officials explained that a decision to intentionally burn vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, from five derailed train cars was flawed and resulted from the company's selective sharing of information with officials at the time.
Norfolk Southern's uncooperative approach didn't stop after the vent-and-burn, according to the NTSB. Throughout the investigation, the company delayed or avoided sharing information, sought to "manufacture" evidence, and even issued a "threat" to agency staff, Jennifer Homendy, the NTSB chair, said.
"Norfolk Southern's abuse of the party process was unprecedented and reprehensible," Homendy said, also describing it as "unconscionable."
She praised NTSB investigators "for their fortitude in the face of mounting pressure, for their laser focus on the facts."
Why is this so predictable? The head of the NTSB said Norfolk Southern repeatedly tried to interfere with the agency’s investigation into the East Palestine derailment. Oh, and the venting and burning of the chemicals was unnecessary and they failed to disclose it, too.
“Norfolk… pic.twitter.com/BrKYD0Cm6s
— Truthstream Media (@truthstreamnews) June 26, 2024
Dozens of train cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, a village near the Pennsylvania border, on February 3, 2023. Hazardous materials were released when a DOT-111 model of train car—not ideal for carrying hazardous materials—was punctured during the crash. This set off fires that spread more than 1,000 feet and lasted for days.
On February 6, concerned that there would be a large-scale explosion, the company got official approval to breach five train cars carrying the vinyl chloride, drained it into a trench, and set it alight in a controlled burn.
That vent-and-burn was "not necessary," says the NTSB's new report, which is set to be finalized in the coming weeks. Homendy had previously said as much while testifying to a congressional committee in March, and a former Environmental Protection Agency employee also said that the incineration likely went against federal regulations, as Common Dreams reported in March.
The burning of the vinyl chloride left a chemical odor over the town, and may have been the cause of nausea, rashes, and headaches. And its impact was not limited to East Palestine—the burned chemicals spread to 16 states and likely Canada, a study released last week found.
Tuesday's hearing helped clarify why the flawed decision to burn the vinyl chloride was made: Norfolk Southern didn't share all available information with authorities, and pressured them to approve the burn immediately.
Oxy Vinyls, the company that produced the chemical, had already assessed the situation and determined that a feared chemical reaction that could have led to an explosion wasn't happening, but Norfolk Southern didn't share this with the incident commander, the report says. The East Palestine fire chief has said the company gave him only 13 minutes to approve the burn; the new report cites "unwarranted urgency."
Norfolk Southern presented vent-and-burn as the only option, the report says.
"There was another option: Let it cool down," Homendy said previously.
In fact, the temperature of one of the train cars in question was already going down, indicating that the feared chemical reaction wasn't happening, but Norfolk Southern didn't share this fact with authorities, the report says.
The company's lack of transparency began even earlier: Firefighters and emergency personnel weren't told which hazardous materials were on board until an hour after they arrived.
"This resulted in greater exposure of emergency responders and to the public to post-derailment hazards," said NTSB investigator Troy Lloyd.
When a responder called Norfolk Southern to ask for more information about the materials on board, a company representative said they would call back, but never did, The Washington Post reported.
Krissy Ferguson, a 50-year-old local resident, told the Post that she felt "heartbroken" after the hearing and called for criminal charges to be filed.
Other local people expressed similar discontent with the company after the hearing.
"Community members deserve transparency and proactive protection, not the silence, secrecy, and manipulation that has been unveiled today about Norfolk Southern," East Palestine resident Misti Allison told The Associated Press.
Homendy expressed her own discontent with Norfolk Southern's approach to dealing with her agency. She said that a senior executive had requested that the agency "put to bed" the "rumor" that the company had rushed through the vent-and-burn to keep trains moving and had said that the results of the agency's investigation could "close a chapter" for the company and allow it to "move on."
Homendy said the request was not only "unethical and inappropriate," but also that the entire room full of NTSB staff perceived it as a "threat," as "it was delivered that way."
The alleged intimidation didn't have apparent effect. In addition to its findings about the accident and the burn, the NTSB on Tuesday set forth more than two dozen recommendations for stricter safety regulations, one of which is removing the DOT-111 model of train car from flammable liquids service.
The recommendations are not binding and must be enacted by Congress, which failed to pass a proposed package of railroad reforms last year likely due to industry lobbying and Republican resistance. The Biden administration did institute new regulations in April.
Norfolk Southern issued a statement in response to the NTSB's findings.
"We resolved not to wait for the NTSB's final report before taking decisive action," said John Fleps, the company's chief safety officer. "We will continue to build on our strong safety culture through partnership and innovation to be the gold standard of safety for the rail industry."
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Chemicals From East Palestine Train Disaster Spread to 16 States: Study
Fires after the February 2023 accident caused plumes of toxic chemicals to spread farther than researchers anticipated. "I think we should be concerned," an expert said.
Jun 19, 2024
Toxic chemicals released during fires following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio last year spread to 16 states and likely Canada, according to a study released Wednesday.
The pollution, some of which came from the burning of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, spread over 540,000 square miles, showing clearly that "the impacts of the fire were larger in scale and scope than the initial predictions," the authors of the study, published in Environmental Research Letters, found.
Lead author David Gay, coordinator of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, said that he was very surprised by the way the chemicals had spread. "I didn't expect to see an impact this far out," he told The Washington Post.
Gay said the results did not mean "death and destruction," as concentrations were low on an absolute scale—"not melting steel or eating paint off buildings"—but that they were still "very extreme" compared to normal, with measurements higher than recorded in the previous ten years.
"I think we should be concerned," Juliane Beier, an expert on vinyl chloride effects who didn't take part in the study, told the Post, citing the possibility of long-term environmental impacts on communities.
A Norfolk Southern train crashed in East Palestine, Ohio, a village near the Pennsylvania border and the Appalachian foothills, on February 3, 2023. Dozens of train cars derailed, at least 11 of which were carrying hazardous materials, some of which caught fire after the accident and burned for days. Fearing a large-scale explosion, authorities drained the vinyl chloride from five cars into a trench and set it alight in a controlled burn.
A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official later said that the controlled burn went against EPA rules; the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said the deliberate burning was unnecessary.
The local impact of the fires was felt acutely in the month after the accident—a "potent chemical odor hung in the air for weeks," according to The Guardian, and people reported nausea, rashes, and headaches.
The new study helps explain the wider environmental impact. The researchers looked at inorganic compound samples in rain and snow at 260 sites. The highest levels of chloride were found in northern Pennsylvania and near the Canada-New York border, which was downwind from the accident. The authors also found "exceptionally high" pH levels in rain as far away as northern Maine. They did not look at organic compounds such as dioxin or PFAS, which likely also spread following the accident, The Guardian reported. The elevated inorganic chemical levels dropped two to three weeks after the accident.
Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in damages following two settlements reached in recent months. In April, the company reached a $600 million deal with class action plaintiffs living within 20 miles of the derailment site. That deal won't be finalized until the residents officially agree. In May, the company reached a separate $310 million settlement with the federal government. The company has said that it has already spent $107 million on community support and removed the impacted soil.
Norfolk Southern makes billions in profits every year, and the company gave its CEO a 37% pay hike last year, drawing widespread criticism. The company also spent $2.3 million on federal lobbying last year, according to OpenSecrets data reported by Roll Call.
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Norfolk Southern Agrees to Pay $600 Million—A Fraction of Its 2023 Profits—for East Palestine Disaster
The company reported nearly $3 billion in income from its railway operations last year.
Apr 09, 2024
A decision from a class-action lawsuit has determined Norfolk Southern will now have to pay $600 million—a mere fraction of the company’s 2023 profits—for the toxic derailment of its train in East Palestine, Ohio last year.
The decision deals with everyone within a 20-mile radius of the derailment. The train spilled more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals in East Palestine.
"Individuals and businesses will be able to use compensation from the settlement in any manner they see fit to address potential adverse impacts from the derailment," the company said in a statement. "This could include healthcare needs and medical monitoring, property restoration and diminution, and compensation for any net business loss."
BREAKING: Norfolk Southern agrees to pay a $600 million settlement to the people of East Palestine more than a year after one of their trains derailed and spilled toxic chemicals into the community.https://t.co/tiQd2NXjnL
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) April 9, 2024
"We believe this is a fair, reasonable and adequate result for the community on a number of levels, not the least of which is the speed of the resolution, and the overall amount of the awards residents can expect, which will be significant for those most impacted by the derailment," said Seth Katz of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, M. Elizabeth Graham of Grant & Eisenhofer, Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy and T. Michael Morgan of Morgan & Morgan, the attorneys for the plaintiffs, in a combined statement.
The Biden administration recently announced that at least two people will now have to be on board the trains of the country's largest freight operators, following the East Palestine disaster, which drew national attention to Norfolk Southern’s history of dangerous practices and lobbying against more stringent federal safety rules.
Last year, even after adjusting for a $1.1 billion hit associated with the East Palestine wreck, the company reported nearly $3 billion in income from its railway operations.
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Biden Announces 'Long Overdue' Rail Safety Rules Despite Industry Objections
"Safety improvements have come too slowly to the railroads but it is great to be finally working with an administration that is listening to workers," said one Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen leader.
Apr 02, 2024
The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that at least two people will now have to be on board of the trains of the country's largest freight operators, which drew backlash from the industry and praise from safety advocates.
The new rule is a response to a train derailment that caused an environmental hazard in East Palestine, Ohio last year. The train derailment caused a spill of toxic chemicals, and a fire ensued.
The Transport Workers Union of America celebrated the new rule.
The TWU applauds @USDOT requiring two-person crews on every freight train. TWU Rail Division Representative Brian DeLucia and Political & Legislative Rep Heather Laverty joined @SecretaryPete. @twusamuelsen said the "Final rule is essential for safety and is long overdue." pic.twitter.com/FrdfEjxOHY
— TWU (@transportworker) April 2, 2024
"Safety improvements have come too slowly to the railroads but it is great to be finally working with an administration that is listening to workers," said Vince Verna, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
Rail companies have argued that the new rule will not improve safety since the administration proposed it in 2022. The president of the Association of American Railroads called it "unfounded and unnecessary regulation."
Even before derailments in East Palestine and Sandusky, Ohio, I supported efforts to mandate a two-person train crew to improve safety for rail workers. I applaud @POTUS, the @USDOT, and the @USDOTFRA for taking this important step forward for rail safety. https://t.co/uWtHjZe9i8
— Rep. Marcy Kaptur (@RepMarcyKaptur) April 2, 2024
"Going forward, we have a new rule on the books to make sure every train is staffed safely," Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg tweeted.
Legislation aimed at improving rail safety has stalled in Congress since the derailment in East Palestine.
"Some of the same Republican representatives and senators who were loudest in professing outrage over that derailment one year ago are uncharacteristically avoiding comment right now, now that their votes are needed to pass this into law," Buttigieg said.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) tweeted on Tuesday that the country "must pass our bipartisan rail safety bill to make these changes permanent."
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What Biden Should Say When He Finally Visits East Palestine
He needs to not only empathize with residents who feel disrespected by his prolonged absence but also attack Norfolk Southern for causing so much pain by prioritizing profits over people.
Feb 11, 2024
On the night of February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern-owned cargo train carrying hazardous materials careened off the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio, a small town bordering Pennsylvania. Some overturned tank cars caught fire and some spilled their contents onto the ground, after which the harmful substances flowed into local waterways and seeped into the soil.
Fearing a catastrophic explosion, public officials ordered thousands of people living in the vicinity to evacuate and on February 6 conducted a controlled release and incineration of vinyl chloride, a known human carcinogen, from five tank cars—creating an ominous plume of black smoke. Authorities on February 8 told those who had fled their homes that it was safe to return despite lingering concerns about air, soil, and water pollution.
Debate persists about the necessity of the chemical vent and burn. What seems certain is that communication between key stakeholders could have been better. In June, it was revealed that while Norfolk Southern said the procedure was necessary, the company that owned the vinyl chloride en route said it wasn’t. That latter information never reached the local fire chief, who said he was given just 13 minutes to make a final call on whether to approve the process. One year later, local residents are still suffering amid the toxic aftermath and remain worried about long-term health effects.
In the wake of the East Palestine catastrophe, Norfolk Southern is intensifying its efforts to thwart stronger regulation.
In the days and weeks following the derailment, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle vowed to enact stronger rail safety measures to prevent similar calamities from occurring in the future. No such legislation has been passed, however, because several Republican lawmakers wavered as soon as industry cash started flowing their way. (The Intercept reports that some Senate Republicans “haven’t looked” at the Railway Safety Act). Meanwhile, the number of derailments reported by the country’s five Class 1 freight railroad companies has increased over the past 12 months. It’s a miracle that none of them has unleashed a comparable amount of noxious compounds and fumes. But that’s a matter of luck—and luck runs out.
We know the GOP has failed to do right by the people of East Palestine (and by extension, has failed to mitigate the dangers faced by millions of Americans who live near railroads). But how has the Biden administration responded so far? And what actions does it still need to take to address ongoing risks to public and environmental health in East Palestine—and to protect other places threatened by the nation’s highly consolidated freight rail industry?
A White House fact sheet published last week touts the Biden administration’s contributions to the ongoing cleanup effort. The Department of Transportation (DOT), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA), and other federal agencies joined state and local officials on the ground in East Palestine within hours of the derailment.
Since then, multiple HHS agencies have conducted public health testing, offered technical assistance, and provided resources to people in need. On February 21, the EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to clean up the mess on its own dime. In the intervening months, substantial amounts of contaminated soil and wastewater have been disposed of, and thousands of air, soil, and water samples have been taken (though there are sharp disagreements over the quality of the evidence, interpretations of it, and messaging about it). As the operation proceeds, the EPA continues to direct and supervise Norfolk Southern and its contractors while doing community outreach. Executive Order 14108, issued by the White House on September 20 to “ensur[e] the people of East Palestine are protected now and in the future,” instructs several departments to provide President Joe Biden with reports updating him on the status of their efforts.
The cleanup and communications surrounding it have faced significant criticism. This is unsurprising given that public officials’ assurances that residents “are not in danger from contaminated drinking water, soil, or air” don’t correspond with symptoms they’ve experienced and don’t assuage their fears of deleterious consequences manifesting in the years to come. Another sticking point was the EPA’s decision to wait until March 2 to require Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins (a potent byproduct of chemical burning), as well as the agency’s initial lack of transparency about their prevalence in the area. It took until October 2, almost six months after the crash, for the EPA to provide a report summarizing its (mainly positive) findings to the public. In addition, there is controversy surrounding some of the contractors Norfolk Southern has hired to collect data from the environment and people’s homes. One of them—the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health—has been sued in the past for its conduct.
So far, Biden has rejected the state of Ohio’s request for a major disaster declaration. But pursuant to E.O. 14108, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has designated Jim McPherson to serve as a Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator. In this role, McPherson is tasked with overseeing long-term recovery efforts in communities harmed by the derailment in East Palestine. This includes identifying “any unmet needs that are not addressed by Norfolk Southern and would qualify for federal assistance.”
Making East Palestine whole is essential, but what about addressing root causes to fend off additional catastrophes? As Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is independent of the DOT, said during a February 23 press conference announcing the initial findings of the NTSB’s ongoing probe into the derailment: “This was 100% preventable. We call things accidents. There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable.”
Buttigieg Must Restore the Brake Rule Nixed by Trump
It’s imperative to remember that the fiery train crash—and ensuing burnoff of carcinogenic petrochemicals—could have been averted. As our executive director Jeff Hauser said soon after the transportation disaster began: “The Obama administration attempted to prevent dangerous derailments like the one in East Palestine by mandating better brake systems on freight trains. But this effort was watered down thanks to corporate pressure, first by writing in many exemptions to the proposed rules and then, under former President Donald Trump, by repealing the requirement altogether.”
Early reporting by The Lever showed that in the immediate wake of the derailment, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made no moves to reinstate or strengthen the Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brake rule rescinded by the Trump administration and in fact was considering an industry-backed proposal to weaken remaining safeguards. The Lever also pointed out that the train in question was not being regulated as a high-hazard flammable locomotive even though it was clearly both high-hazard and flammable. As Jeff noted at the time, “These types of failures to protect the public are invited by perpetual lax enforcement and laziness toward even getting back to the too-low regulatory standards under Obama.”
Jeff urged Buttigieg to “call out the brake rule repeal for the horrendous decision it was, start working to implement a new rule, take Norfolk-Southern to task, and push back on corporations deciding how the Department of Transportation regulates them.” “Anything short of that,” he warned, “only signals to the railroads that this type of incident will be tolerated.”
How is Buttigieg doing? He’s certainly talking the talk. For instance, when the DOT on February 21 unveiled its plan to crack down on rail operators and protect the well-being of workers and communities nationwide, Buttigieg declared that “profit and expediency must never outweigh the safety of the American people,” and added, “we… are doing everything in our power to improve rail safety.”
However, the agency has yet to revive—let alone improve—the ECP brake rule eliminated by Trump’s transportation secretary, Elaine Chao. Unfortunately, this is but one example of how Buttigieg is not walking the walk.
To be fair, Homendy has said that the East Palestine derailment still would have happened if the abandoned brake rule had been in place. Because the train that derailed was considered—against the NTSB’s recommendations—a mixed freight train instead of a high-hazard flammable train, it wouldn’t have been required to have ECP brakes under the jettisoned regulation. The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing, with a final report not expected for a few more months, but the preliminary report it published last February blamed the crash on an overheated wheel bearing.
Nevertheless, in a country that is home to nearly 1,500 derailments per year, that is beside the point. Even if the forsaken ECP brake rule alone wouldn’t have staved off the derailment in East Palestine, requiring high-hazard flammable trains (HHFTs) to be equipped with 21st-century (rather than Civil War-era) braking technology would prevent other disasters. And redefining the HHFT category to include a broader array of freight trains (encompassing, for example, all locomotives carrying vinyl chloride, among other hazardous cargo) would prevent even more damage. To make things easier, the government could mandate that every train is equipped with ECP brakes.
There’s no excuse for Buttigieg to delay any further on this rulemaking. Speaking of other disasters waiting to happen, Biden still needs to nominate an administrator to lead the DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Again, there’s no excuse; he’s had three years in the White House and one year since East Palestine made this a prominent issue.
The DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration, to its credit, is assessing the compliance of each Class 1 rail carrier with existing regulations, a move that comes after it scrutinized Norfolk Southern’s reckless disregard for safety. That’s a good stfart, but there’s much more that Biden himself can and should be doing to vilify freight industry malfeasance.
Biden Should Condemn Corporate Greed in East Palestine
It was a strategic blunder for Biden to let Trump beat him (and Buttigieg) to the scene of the crime in East Palestine. While it’s clear that Trump’s “attempt to portray himself as a friend of the town and as someone who would have stood up to Norfolk Southern… couldn’t be further from the truth,” as More Perfect Union argued last year, the perception that he cares is important.
Of course, as Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch observed ahead of Trump’s February 22 press conference in the Ohio village, “if residents of East Palestine—a modern news desert of downsized or disappeared news sources, which allows misinformation to fester—truly knew the reality, a delegation of townsfolk would likely greet Trump with tiki torches and pitchforks.” Bunch was referring to Trump’s destructive deregulatory legacy, which goes far beyond the rollback of a single brake rule.
It could have been Biden, rather than Bunch, discussing how Republicans’ life-threatening disdain for regulating corporations (justified through a deeply flawed cost-benefit calculus) puts millions of Americans in harm’s way on a daily basis. But for reasons that remain unclear, the president has yet to visit East Palestine (and he even neglected to mention the derailment in his 2023 State of the Union address, delivered just four days after the train crash). Biden said last March that he was going to travel to East Palestine “at some point.” That time seems to be nearing, as the president recently accepted an invitation from the town’s mayor to visit this month.
Highly visible and drawn-out skirmishes would allow the president to tell a compelling story about how concentrated economic and political power is hurting ordinary people and to contrast his pro-worker orientation to Trump’s agenda, which would create more East Palestines and otherwise make life hellish for the vast majority.
When Biden finally does make an appearance, he needs to not only empathize with residents who feel disrespected by his prolonged absence but also attack Norfolk Southern for causing so much pain by prioritizing profits over people. As my colleague Emma has argued at length, Biden has much to gain from picking fights with specific white-collar criminals who routinely exploit workers and the environment.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw is the perfect corporate villain for Biden to make an example of. For inspiration, Biden should rewatch the March 9 Senate hearing on East Palestine, during which Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) grilled Shaw. The wealthy executive’s refusal to abandon precision-scheduled railroading—the profit-maximizing scheme that forces fewer workers to handle longer trains in less time—and halt stock buybacks made him look like the out-of-touch robber baron that he is. According to More Perfect Union, payouts to Norfolk Southern’s shareholders surged by more than 4,500% over the past 20 years, from $101 million in stock repurchases and dividend bumps in 2002 to $4.7 billion in 2022.
If Biden were to denounce Shaw’s support for Wall Street-backed policies that make the nation’s railroads more dangerous, the Norfolk Southern CEO would likely try to defend himself. This would be ideal. Our theory of corporate crackdown holds that these battles should be public and prolonged, not one-off tweets. Highly visible and drawn-out skirmishes would allow the president to tell a compelling story about how concentrated economic and political power is hurting ordinary people and to contrast his pro-worker orientation to Trump’s agenda, which would create more East Palestines and otherwise make life hellish for the vast majority.
Shaw might protest that his company was the only Class 1 railroad to report a decrease in derailments over the past year. There’s no need for Biden to fall for this. The president could point out that last year’s decline followed a decade in which Norfolk Southern’s accident rate outpaced those of its peers.
Maybe Shaw would have the audacity to mention all the money his multibillion-dollar corporation is spending on environmental remediation, temporary relocation assistance, legal fees, and other costs related to the crisis it unleashed. Fine. That’s when Biden should cite last week’s report from Public Citizen, which showed that Norfolk Southern still had enough resources at its disposal to spend $2.3 million on federal lobbying in 2023—a 30% increase over the $1.8 million it spent in 2022. (And keep in mind lobbying expenses that are disclosed are always the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a corporation’s total expenditures seeking to influence political outcomes).
Let that sink in. In the wake of the East Palestine catastrophe, Norfolk Southern is intensifying its efforts to thwart stronger regulation. As The Lever noted, last year’s lobbying expenditure “is nearly five times the amount Norfolk Southern has pledged to protect drinking water around East Palestine.” That’s morally repugnant. And it’s exactly the kind of thing Biden should bring up during his visit to show the town’s residents that he’s on their side and will fight for them.
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A Year After Ohio Disaster, Renewed Calls for Rail Safety Legislation
"Folks like us, who live along or near the tracks, refuse to be treated as collateral damage in the way of big railroads' profits," said Congressman Chris Deluzio.
Feb 02, 2024
On the eve of the first anniversary of a toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, residents, lawmakers, and members of U.S. President Joe Biden's administration are renewing calls for Congress to swiftly pass federal legislation boosting rail safety.
In a Friday letter, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to "bring the Railway Saftey Act to the floor for a vote before Congress adjourns for the August recess," highlighting that the bill is backed by Democratic and Republican lawmakers as well as the Biden administration and former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential frontrunner.
Deluzio, who introduced the House version of the bill with Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), noted that the Norfolk Southern train derailed and released hazardous materials "less than a mile from the Pennsylvania state line and the homes and farms of my constituents."
"Without dwelling on the resulting health problems, environmental scare, and general lack of trust that I still regularly hear from my constituents, I instead want to empathize that we cannot accept congressional inaction, and how the February 3, 2023 derailment could have been much worse," the congressman wrote. "Folks like us, who live along or near the tracks, refuse to be treated as collateral damage in the way of big railroads' profits."
"Over the last two centuries, railroad companies have wielded their power and influence to protect their profits and avoid commonsense safety measures, allowing them to cut corners and pad the pockets of their corporate shareholders at the expense of the American people," he explained. "After the East Palestine derailment, the big railroad lobby sprang into action once again and lobbied members of Congress—directing them to do nothing to make rail safer and risk cutting into their profits."
The Railway Saftey Act—led in the Senate by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and JD Vance (R-Ohio)—contains provisions to enhance safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials, reduce the risk of wheel bearing failures, require well-trained two-person crews, force carriers to face higher fines for wrongdoing, support communities impacted by disasters, and invest in safety improvements.
Brown and Vance have also issued fresh calls for action this week.
"Over the last year, I've visited East Palestine repeatedly, and our staff is there even more often," Brown said Tuesday. "Each time, we ask residents what we can do. They want the support and the compensation they are owed, but they do not want this derailment to define them. I don't want that either, and I don't want any other community in Ohio or around the country to have to deal with a disaster like this ever again."
"As I've told the people of East Palestine—and as I keep telling them: I'm here for the long haul," he added. "I will always fight for the people of East Palestine. I will always fight to hold Norfolk Southern accountable. And I will always fight to make our railways safer."
As Nexstar's Reshad Hudson reported Tuesday:
Vance says he's working with Brown to get the needed support for the bill.
"It's not going to eliminate every train crash, but it hopefully can make these things much less common because they happen way too often,” Vance said.
According to Roll Call, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters this week that his department has "done our part" and "we are pressing industry to do their part, Congress needs to act as well."
"Any congressional leader of any party who is serious about railroad safety should support funding for railroad safety inspections... and should support the Railway Safety Act," he said.
While the outlet noted that delays in the House are partly tied to a forthcoming national Transportation Safety Board investigation report, the bill's sponsors and Buttigieg are largely blaming industry opposition, with the secretary saying that "in the past, there have been times when Congress stood up against the railroad lobby... they should do that now."
The White House announced this week that Biden plans to visit East Palestine sometime in February "to meet with residents impacted by the Norfolk Southern train derailment and assess the progress that his administration has helped deliver in coordination with state and local leaders to protect the community and hold Norfolk Southern accountable."
The White House also reiterated the administration's support for the Railway Safety Act—a bill that is backed by workers but also contains loopholes that "you can run a freight train through," as Eddie Hall, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, warned last year.
Other measures before Congress include the Railway Accountability Act—led by Brown along with Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who are also fighting to pass the Railway Safety Act.
Demands for congressional action on rail safety and more have also continued to pour out of East Palestine and surrounding communities—particularly from people who remain displaced and are suffering a wide range of symptoms.
"What I've been experiencing is some of the fear that I've never known in almost all of my 70 years," Stella Gamble, a grandmother of nine who lives less than a mile from the derailment, said in a testimony shared by The Real News Network. "I am so afraid for my grandchildren and for the other children in this town. My granddaughters have rashes on their skin. They've been having female issues. They get massive headaches."
"I think that the whole thing behind everything that's happened here is the same as it is everywhere else in this country. It's all about the money," Gamble added. "Everything about it is the money, and they will gladly sacrifice a few thousand Appalachians to keep their trains going through here... We're just a sacrifice. That's how I feel. And I feel like my grandkids are being sacrificed, too."
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Montana Train Derailment Raises Fears of Similar Disasters on Proposed Uinta Basin Railway
The Stillwater County, Montana sheriff's office said it was a "great stroke of luck" that none of the train cars were carrying oil that would have polluted the Yellowstone River.
Jun 25, 2023
A freight train derailment and the collapse of a bridge over the Yellowstone River in Montana on Saturday raised alarm as several cars carrying asphalt and molten sulfur tumbled into the river, prompting officials to take emergency measures at nearby water plants.
The incident also brought to mind for some critics the Biden administration's plan to move forward with a railway project along the Colorado River—one that could place the drinking water of 40 million people at risk as trains transport crude oil from eastern Utah's Uinta Basin to national rail lines.
The substances solidified quickly once exposed to the cold water in the Yellowstone River on Saturday, and Stillwater County emergency services chief David Stamey told The New York Times that the solidification could limit the potential harmful effects to the environment.
Sulfur is commonly used as an insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide, and is often used in fertilizers.
As a precaution, water treatment plant officials in Yellowstone and Stillwater Counties temporarily shut down water intake until the material had flowed past Billings, which lies about an hour's drive east of the derailment site. Authorities also asked residents to conserve water. About 167,000 people live in Yellowstone County while roughly 9,000 people live in Stillwater.
The freight train was operated by Montana Rail Link, whose spokesperson told the Times that two cars were also carrying sodium hydro sulfate, which can cause serious eye damage on exposure.
"Neither of these cars have entered the water and initial air quality assessments have been performed and confirmed that there is no release associated with the two cars," the railroad said in a statement.
Ten cars in total derailed, the Times reported.
Montana Rail Link said no one was injured in the accident.
Robert Bea, a retired engineering professor at the University of California Berkeley, told the Associated Press that recent heavy rains may have played a role in the collapse of the bridge.
"The high water flow translates to high forces acting directly on the pier and, importantly, on the river bottom," Bea told the outlet. "You can have erosion or scour that removes support from the foundation. High forces translate to a high likelihood of a structural or foundation failure that could act as a trigger to initiate the accident."
The cause of the derailment and collapse are being investigated.
To Ted Zukoski, a senior attorney in the Center for Biological Diversity's public lands program, the accident raised concerns about similar potential disasters along the Uinta Basin Railway, which could carry as many as five two-mile-long crude oil trains more than 100 miles each day alongside the Colorado River's headwaters.
“For about 100 miles of the railroad, it is close enough to the river that if you're sitting in a raft in the middle of it, you could throw a rock and hit the railroad, Zukoski told Lever News last month.
As Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Rep. Joe Neguse, all of Colorado, told U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a letter earlier this year urging him to oppose the project, the public-private alliance behind the Uinta Basin Railway appears to have "no plan to mitigate the harm of a potential accident or derailment in Colorado, which could be particularly difficult to address given [Colorado's] mountainous terrain."
In addition to worsening the climate crisis by supporting the increased production of 350,000 barrels of oil per day, the Utah Clean Infrastructure Coalition has said in a fact sheet on the project, "the heavy, long oil tanker trains used to transport crude oil pose greater risks of derailment and spills than other freight trains, and an increased risk of fire due to derailment and spilling of combustible oil."
In Montana on Saturday, the Stillwater County Sheriff's office said it was a "great stroke of luck" that none of the train cars were carrying oil that would have polluted the Yellowstone.
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'Same Sh*t, Different Day,' Says Fetterman After Yet Another Norfolk Southern Derailment
"It's time to finally hold Norfolk Southern and the big rail companies accountable for the harm they have caused in East Palestine and Darlington Township, and the harm they continue to cause with this dangerous, reckless, and selfish behavior."
May 11, 2023
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman on Thursday demanded accountability for Norfolk Southern and other railroad companies following Wednesday night's freight train derailment in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.
Local media report nine out of more than 200 cars on a Norfolk Southern train went off the track just before midnight in the town of New Castle, 50 miles north of Pittsburgh and about 10 miles east of the Ohio border.
"This has got to end."
Fire officials said that salt, soybeans, and paraffin wax—used to make candles—spilled from the derailed cars, none of which were carrying hazardous materials. A statement from Norfolk Southern said no one was injured in the accident.
New Castle is also located about 20 miles from East Palestine, Ohio, the site of the fiery Norfolk Southern derailment and chemical burn disaster that spilled cancer-causing dioxin and vinyl chloride into the air, soil, and waterways in the vicinity of the accident.
"It's the same shit, different day from Norfolk Southern," Fetterman (D-Pa.) said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
"It's time to finally hold Norfolk Southern and the big rail companies accountable for the harm they have caused in East Palestine and Darlington Township, and the harm they continue to cause with this dangerous, reckless, and selfish behavior," the freshman senator continued. Darlington Township, Pennsylvania is located about nine miles east of East Palestine.
"I'm thankful that no one was hurt and no toxic material was spilled in New Castle, but this derailment looks way too similar to the ones we've said can't happen again," Fetterman said. "This has got to end."
"I'm proud that my bipartisan bill, the Railway Safety Act, advanced out of committee yesterday," added Fetterman, who has also introduced the Railroad Accountability Act.
"This bill will finally enact commonsense rail safety procedures that would have prevented last night's derailment," the lawmaker asserted of the measure advanced Wednesday. "It's time to pass this bill on the floor and finally hold Norfolk Southern accountable."
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In Fiery Shadow of New Train Disaster, Fetterman Leads Railway Accountability Act
"This bill will implement commonsense safety reforms, hold the big railway companies accountable, protect the workers who make these trains run, and help prevent future catastrophes," said the Pennsylvania Democrat.
Mar 30, 2023
As a train derailment and fire forced evacuations in Minnesota on Thursday, a trio of Democratic U.S. senators introduced another piece of legislation inspired by the ongoing public health and environmental disaster in and around East Palestine, Ohio.
The Railway Accountability Act—led by Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)—would build on the bipartisan Railway Safety Act introduced at the beginning of March by Brown and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride derailed in the small Ohio community on February 3.
While welcoming "greater federal oversight and a crackdown on railroads that seem all too willing to trade safety for higher profits," Eddie Hall, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), also warned just after the earlier bill was unveiled that "you can run a freight train through the loopholes."
The new bill is backed by unions including the Transport Workers of America (TWU), the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (NCFO), and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD).
"Communities like Darlington Township and East Palestine are too often forgotten and overlooked by leaders in Washington and executives at big companies like Norfolk Southern who only care about making their millions."
"It is an honor and a privilege to introduce my first piece of legislation, the Railway Accountability Act, following the derailment affecting East Palestine, Ohio, and Darlington Township, Pennsylvania," Fetterman said in a statement. "This bill will implement commonsense safety reforms, hold the big railway companies accountable, protect the workers who make these trains run, and help prevent future catastrophes that endanger communities near railway infrastructure."
Fetterman, who is expected to return to the Senate in mid-April after checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last month to be treated for clinical depression, asserted that "working Pennsylvanians have more than enough to think about already—they should never have been put in this horrible situation."
"Communities like Darlington Township and East Palestine are too often forgotten and overlooked by leaders in Washington and executives at big companies like Norfolk Southern who only care about making their millions," he added. "That's why I'm proud to be working with my colleagues to stand up for these communities and make clear that we're doing everything we can to prevent a disaster like this from happening again."
As Fetterman's office summarized, the Railway Accountability Act would:
- Direct the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to examine the causes of and potential mitigation strategies for wheel-related derailments and mechanical defects, and publish potential regulations that would improve avoidance of these defects;
- Ensure that employees can safely inspect trains by prohibiting trains from being moved during brake inspections;
- Require that the mechanic that actually inspects a locomotive or rail car attests to its safety;
- Direct the FRA to review regulations relating to the operation of trains in switchyards, and direct railroads to update their plans submitted under the FRA's existing Risk Reduction Program (RRP) to incorporate considerations regarding switchyard practices;
- Require the FRA to make Class 1 railroad safety waivers public in one online location;
- Require railroads to ensure that communication checks between the front and end of a train do not fail, and that emergency brake signals reach the end of a train;
- Ensure Class 1 railroad participation in the confidential Close Call Reporting System by requiring all railroads that have paid the maximum civil penalty for a safety violation to join; and
- Ensure that railroads provide warning equipment (such as white disks, red flags, or whistles) to railroad watchmen and lookouts.
A preliminary report released in late February by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggests an overheated wheel bearing may have caused the disastrous derailment in Ohio. The initial findings added fuel to demands that federal lawmakers enact new rules for the rail industry.
"Rail lobbyists have fought for years to protect their profits at the expense of communities like East Palestine," Brown noted Thursday.
Casey stressed that "along with the Railway Safety Act, this bill will make freight rail safer and protect communities from preventable tragedies."
In addition to pushing those two bills, Brown, Casey, and Fetterman have responded to the East Palestine disaster by introducing the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act and—along with other colleagues—writing to Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Michael Regan with various concerns and demands.
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100+ Groups Detail Demands for Dioxin Testing After Toxic Train Derailment
"It's important for the residents of East Palestine that accurate and transparent testing for dioxin be done at the lowest levels possible, so that the residents can begin to understand the risks they face and can make informed decisions to protect their health," said one expert.
Mar 13, 2023
While welcoming a federal order that Norfolk Southern test for dioxins near a derailed train that was carrying hazardous materials through East Palestine, Ohio, over 100 groups on Monday shared "recommendations on how this testing should be conducted to improve transparency, rebuild public trust, and comprehensively address possible releases."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the rail company to develop a plan to test for dioxins—carcinogenic chemical compounds that persist in the environment and human body and are tied to developmental, reproductive, and immune system problems—only after nearly a month of pressure from residents across Ohio and Pennsylvania.
River Valley Organizing (RVO), Toxic-Free Future, and other organizations signed the letter sent on Monday to agency leaders including EPA Administrator Michael Regan—which states that "to date, Norfolk Southern has done an extremely poor job of building trust with the community of East Palestine and other communities impacted by the disaster."
"We strongly recommend the U.S. EPA itself conduct the dioxin sampling or hire its own consultants to conduct the testing."
"To ensure this testing is adequately conducted, and to rebuild public trust, we strongly recommend the U.S. EPA itself conduct the dioxin sampling or hire its own consultants to conduct the testing," the letter continues. "Norfolk Southern should not be in charge of the dioxin sampling. This testing must be paid for by the responsible parties, not taxpayers."
Along with laying out what the groups believe should be detailed in the dioxin sampling plan—including goals, locations, detection limits, procedures, and laboratories used—the letter calls for allowing residents to weigh in before testing begins.
"All sampling data and test results should be made available to the public for review in a transparent and easily accessible format," the organizations argued. "This information must be accessible for review, given the need for results to be meaningful to impacted communities as well as to build trust through transparent action."
While the EPA has said that its own "monitoring for indicator chemicals has suggested a low probability" that dioxins were released as a result of the February 3 derailment and subsequent "controlled burn" of vinyl chloride, as the letter says:
Responders reportedly punctured and burned more than 115,000 gallons of vinyl chloride in uncontrolled conditions for numerous days, making it likely that dioxins and related chlorinated substances were formed and released into the communities surrounding the disaster site. Four train cars of polyvinyl chloride plastic also burned, also likely forming dioxins. There have been elevated levels of dioxins released in other major accidents involving chlorinated chemicals—from the 2004 explosion at the PVC plant in Illiopolis, Illinois, to the 1997 Plastimet PVC recycling fire in Ontario, to the 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
The organizations also recommended that "the EPA work with other agencies to provide medical monitoring for impacted communities, especially East Palestine and those in the combustion plume, that desire it."
"Communities surrounding and downwind of the derailment have a right to know whether the fire resulted in elevated concentrations of dioxins. The testing must be transparent and comprehensive," the letter asserts. "This would help demonstrate EPA's commitment to comprehensively responding to this disaster, rebuilding trust with East Palestine and other impacted communities, and advancing environmental justice."
Leaders and experts at groups that signed the letter echoed its key messages in a statement Monday—including RVO co-executive director Amanda Kiger, who declared that "this community deserves to know what potential toxic chemicals they will have to live with for years to come due to Norfolk Southern's greed."
Just like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called forever chemicals, "dioxins are toxic even at very low levels of exposure," noted Mike Schade, director of Mind the Store, a program of Toxic-Free Future.
Stephen Lester, science director of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, highlighted that "exposure to dioxins can cause cancer, reproductive damage, developmental problems, immune effects, skin lesions, and other adverse effects."
"It's important for the residents of East Palestine that accurate and transparent testing for dioxin be done at the lowest levels possible, so that the residents can begin to understand the risks they face and can make informed decisions to protect their health," Lester said.
Others took aim at Norfolk Southern, which since the derailment has faced intense scrutiny for its safety culture and practices.
Given that "Norfolk Southern has obvious financial conflicts of interest in the outcomes of all environmental testing and public health evaluations," Dr. Ted Schettler, science director at the Science and Environmental Health Network, stressed the need for "rigorous oversight of the U.S. EPA, including strict quality control measures and split-sample testing."
Judith Enck, a former U.S. EPA regional administrator who is now president of Beyond Plastics, said that "it is unfortunate that the EPA took a month to decide to test for dioxins, and then rather than doing it itself, is having Norfolk Southern consultants to do the actual testing."
"The testing plan is too limited and should be revised to require some testing inside people's homes, at schools, and air filters in schools and buildings and cars should be tested, not just soil," she added. "Rain has likely driven contaminants toward groundwater and that water should be tested over a period of months and year[s]."
Enck's comments came after she wrote in a New York Times opinion piece last week that the EPA should have "ordered comprehensive testing the very day of the burn" and "told residents, especially pregnant women and families with young children, not to return home until it was safe to do so."
"Instead, it timidly stood back, leaving local authorities, corporate interests, and rumors to fill the void," she charged. "In lieu of a comprehensive plan, the EPA appears to be playing a game of crisis whack-a-mole, waiting and then responding to the news cycle. This is no way to safeguard our communities."
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