The CEO of Norfolk Southern Railway has apologized to the United States Congress and pledged millions of dollars to help the town in East Palestine, Ohio recover from last month’s fire. train derailment transport hazardous materials.
But Alan Shaw refrained from fully endorsing tougher safety regulations or specific commitments to pay for long-term health and economic damage.
During a busy Senate hearing on Thursday, Shaw said his railroad strongly supports the goal of improving rail safety, but he also defended his company’s record.
He has been questioned closely by Democrats and Republicans about specific pledges to pay for long-term health and economic damage – and the decision-making that led to the release and burning of toxic vinyl chloride of five tank cars – as well as the company. commitment to safety and assistance to residents.
“I am terribly sorry for the impact this derailment has had on the people of this community,” Shaw told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “We’re going to be here for as long as it takes to help eastern Palestine prosper and recover.”
But the condolences and pledge of $20 million in aid so far did little to satisfy lawmakers or several residents of eastern Palestine who traveled to Washington, DC, for the hearing.
“How can we trust this man for our health and that of our children, when he does not even answer the questions that we need answered,” said Jami Cozza, adding that his family continues to suffer from illnesses more than a month after the derailment.
The company announced several voluntary security upgrades. The senators, however, promised an urgent investigation into the derailment, the president Response from Joe Biden’s administrationand company safety practices following the overturning of 38 railcars, including 11 carrying hazardous materials.
Federal regulators also said Norfolk Southern itself needed to do more to improve safety.
No one was injured in the crash, but state and local authorities decided to release and burn toxic vinyl chloride of five tank cars, causing the evacuation of half of the approximately 5,000 inhabitants of eastern Palestine.
Scenes of smoke billowing over the village, accompanied by an outcry from residents that they are still suffering from illnesses, drew high-level attention to rail safety and the way hazardous materials are transported.
Democratic Senator Tom Carper, chairman of the commission, opened Thursday’s hearing by calling it “an opportunity to put ourselves in the shoes of those affected by this disaster, to examine the immediate response and to ensure long-term responsibility for clean-up efforts”.
Carper joined the committee’s top Republican, Sen. Shelley Capito of West Virginia, on a call with reporters Wednesday to stress that they would work in a bipartisan way “to be accountable to the communities and people who have been impacted. “.
Senate Proposal
THE Eastern Palestine disaster along with a string of other recent train derailments has sparked a show of bipartisanship in the Senate.
On Thursday, the committee also heard from senators from Ohio and Pennsylvania — Republican JD Vance and Democrats Sherrod Brown and Bob Casey — who are imposing new safety rules called the Railway Safety Act of 2023.
“It shouldn’t take a train wreck for elected officials to put aside partisanship and work together for the people we serve — not corporations like Norfolk Southern,” Ohio’s Brown said in prepared remarks. “Railway lobbyists have spent years fighting all efforts to tighten the rules to make our trains and rail lines safer. Now the people of Ohio are paying the price.
Train derailments have become less frequent, but there were still more than 1,000 last year, according to data collected by the Federal Railroad Administration. Even a single train derailment involving hazardous materials can be disastrous.
Noting that a train had derailed in his home state of West Virginia on Wednesday, Capito framed the hearing as the Senate’s first step of several on rail safety and emergency response.
Hazardous materials shipments represent 7-8% of the approximately 30 million shipments that railroads deliver in the United States each year. But railroads often mix up shipments and may have one or two hazardous materials cars on nearly every train.
The Association of American Railroads trade group says that 99.9% of hazardous materials shipments reach their destinations safely and that railroads are generally considered the safest option for transporting hazardous chemicals on land.
But lawmakers want to make the railways safer.
The Railroad Safety Act of 2023, which won the support of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, would require the installation of more detectors to check wheel bearing temperatures more frequently, ensure that railroads inform states of the hazardous materials they transport, and fund training on hazardous materials for first responders.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives have expressed skepticism about passing new railroad regulations. GOP senators discussed the bill at their weekly lunch Tuesday, but Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said most would prefer the bill be ironed out in committee.
Vance, an Ohio senator who won the election for the first time last november, criticized fellow Republicans who rejected his bill, saying they were ignoring a shift in the GOP to appeal to blue-collar voters.
“We have a choice: Are we for big business and big government, or are we for the people of eastern Palestine? he said.
Federal investigations
Norfolk Southern is also under pressure from federal regulators. Both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Railroad Administration announced company safety culture investigations this week. The NTSB said its investigators will investigate five significant crashes involving Norfolk Southern since December 2021.
The company said it was immediately implementing safety upgrades, including adding “approximately 200 hot bearing detectors” to its network. The NTSB said a detector alerted the crew of the train that derailed on February 3 outside eastern Palestine, but they were unable to stop the train before more than three dozen cars exited tracks and do not catch fire.
The Senate bill also touches on a disagreement between railway unions and operators by requiring that train crews always consist of two people.
Unions argue the railways are riskier due to job cuts in the industry over the past six years. Nearly a third of all rail jobs have been cut and train crews, they say, face fatigue from being on call night and day.
Shaw said Norfolk Southern had embarked on a “hiring speed” over the past year, but he did not support other proposed changes, including a requirement to maintain two-person crews on freight railways.
Republicans, meanwhile, are more eager to delve into the emergency response to the derailment in eastern Palestine. Thursday’s Senate hearing also included environmental officials from the federal, state and local levels.
Shaw and state and Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, who oversaw the cleanup, all said they would be comfortable living in eastern Palestine. today, because air and water tests all show it is safe.
Republicans have repeatedly criticized Biden for not visiting the community after the derailment. The Democratic president has said he will visit at some point, although Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited eastern Palestine last month and pushed for increased security protocols for trains.
Several residents of eastern Palestine traveled to Washington, DC for Thursday’s hearing, including Misti Allison, who joined a group called Moms Clean Air Force.
Allison and other residents worry about the potential long-term effects, even though tests don’t show dangerous levels of toxins.
“Everyone here wants everything to be okay. We want this to be true so badly. Everyone loves this community and no one wants to leave,” Allison said. “But if it’s not, we have to the knowledge.”
A chemical smell can still sometimes be smelled in eastern Palestine, she said, adding: “Congress must hold Norfolk Southern accountable and those polluters and corporations that run these train bombs through neighborhoods like ours. .
