Rail company accused of mishandling toxic Ohio train derailment response

The response of the railroad company Norfolk Southern to the derailment of a train carrying toxic materials earlier this month near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border is under scrutiny, after the company carried out a “controlled burn” of a known carcinogen.

In a scathing letter to the company’s CEO, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro expressed “serious concerns” about the railroad's handling of the aftermath of the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, just across the border from the Keystone State.

In the letter, which was also sent to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and a number of other state and local officials, Shapiro claimed that, in the immediate aftermath of the crash, railroad company employees broke off from the rest of the state and local emergency management officials on the ground, making unilateral decisions and creating confusion for first responders.

What’s more, Shapiro accused Norfolk Southern of providing inaccurate and conflicting information about the impact of the proposed chemical release, writing that the railroad was unwilling to explore alternative courses of action, “including some that may have kept the rail line closed longer but could have resulted in a safer overall approach for first responders, residents, and the environment."

In an email to Yahoo News, a spokesperson for Norfolk Southern said the company has “called the Governor to address his concerns,” and insisted that it is “committed to ensuring health and safety through ongoing environmental monitoring and support for their needs.”

“Norfolk Southern was on-scene immediately following the derailment and began working directly with local, state, and federal officials as they arrived at the unified command established in East Palestine by local officials, including those from Pennsylvania,” the email statement read. “We remain at the command post today working alongside those agencies to keep information flowing from our teams working at the site.”

On Feb. 6, Norfolk Southern released toxic chemicals from five of the derailed tanker cars in what it said was an attempt to preempt a larger explosion. One of the chemicals it was most concerned about was vinyl chloride, a colorless gas used in the making of plastic products. According to the National Cancer Institute, exposure to the gas is associated ​​“with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), brain and lung cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia.” The chemical can also leach into the water supply and subsequently be ingested.

Residents who were ordered to evacuate ahead of the controlled burn release have since been assured that it is safe to return to their homes, but many have reported unopleasant odors, watering eyes and sick animals on their properties, raising concerns about its lingering health and safety effects.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sought to quell some of those concerns by holding a press conference with several state health and safety officials in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday afternoon. DeWine, a Republican, began the press conference by providing a recap of his office’s response to the Feb. 3 train derailment, including the discussions that ultimately led to the controlled release of toxic chemicals from some of the derailed train cars.

DeWine said that on a conference call two days after the initial derailment, concerns were raised about one of the derailed cars, whose temperature was described as “very volatile” and rising. “The fear was that this car might explode, sending deadly shrapnel in all directions,” he said.

The next morning, he said he traveled to East Palestine to meet with those responding to the crash on the ground, including representatives from Norfolk Southern as well as the federal government. DeWine then said he called Pennsylvania's governor, Shapiro, a Democrat, on his cellphone to join in an “extended discussion” with representatives from the railroad, who provided them with “two bad options” for how to deal with the car in question. They could either do nothing and wait for the car to explode, which, DeWine said he was told, would be “catastrophic.” The alternative the company presented was a controlled release of the chemicals inside the car, “which is what the railroad felt should be done,” he said.

DeWine said the Ohio National Guard, with the help of the U.S. Defense Department, conducted a modeling exercise to assess the risks of the controlled release. After deliberating with Shapiro for roughly two hours, DeWine said the governors agreed to go ahead with the controlled release, issuing a wider evacuation order for the area around the derailment where, they warned, deadly fumes would be released into the air.

However, the letter from Shapiro, which was made public shortly after DeWine’s press conference, casts doubt on the information that led to that decision. For example, Shapiro accused Norfolk Southern of failing to “immediately inform authorities as to the number of rail cars that contained dangerous chemicals,” noting that chemicals were ultimately released and burned from more than just one train car.

“Norfolk Southern failed to notify state and local response agencies initially of their intention to vent and burn all five cars containing vinyl chloride, rather than just the single car Norfolk Southern personnel identified originally,” he wrote.

Shapiro’s comments came a day after the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Norfolk Southern saying that the company had failed to properly dispose of contaminated soil at the crash site in its effort to get the railway reopened.

Throughout his political career, Shapiro has relished public fights, serving two terms as the state attorney general before winning the governor’s race in November. Part of his gubernatorial campaign was pushing some of the victories he achieved as the state’s top law enforcement officer, including an investigation of the Catholic Church for abuse and earning a 10-figure settlement over predatory student loans.

Some in the area have questioned whether elected officials or Norfolk Southern were leading the response. Critics include Silverio Caggiano, a former battalion chief with the Youngstown, Ohio, Fire Department and a hazardous materials expert, who said: “We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” he told WKBN, a local TV news affiliate.

“I was surprised when they quickly told the people they can go back home, but then said, 'If they feel like they want their homes tested they can have them tested.' I would’ve far rather they did all the testing,” Caggiano said, adding, “There’s a lot of what ifs, and we’re going to be looking at this thing five, 10, 15, 20 years down the line and wondering, ‘Gee, cancer clusters could pop up, you know. Well water could go bad.’”

Asked about Shapiro’s concerns, the White House directed Yahoo News to comments made by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily briefing Tuesday, stating that the EPA had been on site since the day after the crash.

“They are, clearly, closely monitoring the situation in East Palestine. And our top priority is, of course, the health and safety of the community,” Jean-Pierre said. “And since Feb. 4, EPA has been leading air quality testing and supporting the Ohio EPA with surface and groundwater testing. The National Transportation Security Board has also been on site for over a week to lead the investigation into the cause of the derailment.”

The administration has been criticized by rail workers for its response to the derailment, and for the fact that Buttigieg took 10 days to make a statement after the crash. Railway unions were already upset with the White House after it sided with the rail companies over striking workers in a labor dispute over paid sick days last year. Many in the industry have warned for years that a new scheduling system implemented by rail companies that results in longer trains and fewer staff would lead to more derailments, like the one in East Palestine.

Matt Weaver, the Ohio Legislative Director for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED-IBT), told Yahoo News Tuesday that the administration “should strike while the iron is hot and enforce these regulations and make things safer,”

He added: “I think perhaps Buttigieg has dropped the ball here. Let's do an investigation, let's have the NTSB get a report out and find out how we can make things better. And I feel that not getting feedback from the Department of Transportation and even the administration is a bit frustrating.”