National Transportation Safety Board: “Vent and Burn” of Derailed Train in East Palestine ‘Wasn’t Needed’
NTSB Chair slams Norfolk Southern’s behavior during the investigation and accused it of failing to disclose information to investigators.
We closely followed the developments in East Palestine, Ohio, after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in early 2023.
As a reminder, the responders attempted to control the burn of the material, which released a toxic plume and resulted in serious chemical contamination of the area. Air and water quality were adversely impacted throughout the region. One hazardous material expert stated, “We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open.”
It took 8 months for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to announce the completion of significant cleanup activities. Chemicals from the derailment and the burn landed in 16 states.
After more than a year of investigations, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that the burning of toxic chemicals was unnecessary.
Officials intentionally released and burned off toxic vinyl chloride from five derailed cars, sending smoke and chemicals into the air despite the potential health effects. NTSB officials said Tuesday that the train operator and its contractors failed to tell incident commanders that the maker and shipper of the vinyl chloride had said venting and burning the chemicals wasn’t needed.
At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy slammed Norfolk Southern’s behavior during the investigation and accused the company of delaying or failing to disclose information to investigators. Twice, Homendy threatened to subpoena the company to get the information they were looking for, she said. Norfolk Southern also attempted to submit its investigation four times.
“Parties are not permitted to manufacture their own evidence,” Homendy said, calling Norfolk Southern’s attempts to influence the investigation “unprecedented and reprehensible.”
She noted a recent meeting with a Norfolk Southern senior executive with her and staff that ended with a “threat.” Homendy did not name the executive.
The NTSB issued a 13-page synopsis is available here, and the full report is expected within a few weeks. The findings are very troubling.
Among the key findings of the NTSB investigation:
- The February 3, 2023 derailment was preventable and happened because Norfolk Southern deliberately did not act on warnings it received from wayside detectors, which showed that the train was failing miles before the derailment.
- The report confirmed what many residents and hazardous materials experts have long been saying—that the decision made to “vent and burn” five tanker cars filled with over a million pounds of highly toxic vinyl chloride was unnecessary.
- Investigators found that Norfolk Southern withheld vital information from emergency workers that the five tanker cars carrying vinyl chloride were not heating up and in danger of exploding.
- Norfolk Southern did not notify firefighters and other first responders in a timely manner that the train was carrying highly toxic chemicals and that those cars were among the ones that derailed.
- Roughly 25 percent, one in four, of the rail cars on the train did not meet federal safety standards.
The report also asserted that crew members acted correctly and were not responsible for the derailments.
Looking back at the reports, I wanted to note that Ohio Senator and now Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance did visit East Palestine in the wake of the incident.
Senator JD Vance (R-OH) checked out a creek in the impacted area . . . and suggested that if the tap water were safe to drink, perhaps EPA head Regan should be willing to drink it.
I am really looking forward to Vance bringing up Biden’s hapless administration, especially the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg.
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Comments
I don’t think that they ever got a presidential visit, maybe they should have claimed to be the other Palestine.
The town should have renamed itself “Gaza,” Ohio. Then, federal aid, Biden’s undivided attention and the gleeful support and profound sympathies and outrage of the Dhimmi-crat Party, at-large, would have been swiftly delivered and expressed.
The mayor could say Biden visited and repeat the claim ad nauseum until it becomes true. Or at least true enough that the media doesn’t challenge the claim.
Uh, ok. So who will go to prison for this human and enviroment disaster? Who? When?
Silly me. This is *clown world* where no one is held to account for anything, ever.
NS likely decided the burn off was faster and cheaper than a real cleanup. Horrific decision to say the least.
Come on, man. This stuff is no worse than what Hunter smokes every day.
NTSB is one of the few federal agencies that seems competent and worthy of respect. Maybe its relatively small size has something to do with its efficacy.
NOW they tell us.
Blame shifting by the regulatory agency is always the final step in any disaster. They burned it because they feared that safety devices wouldn’t work. No, actually they would have worked, says the regulator.
I’m not aware of anything NS did wrong. The spacing of fault detectors was the problem, and they were within best practices on that.
Their train derailed spilling hazardous chemicals which were then set on fire. It wasn’t as if there’s some kind of proportional liability here with the train hitting a wayward cow or a vehicle on the tracks. Their equipment failed. It’s their responsibility to ensure their equipment doesn’t fail and most folks would agree that duty rises in proportion to the potential dangers of whatever they are hauling.
There are about three derailments a day nationwide. They deal with them with trackside fault detectors for prevention, and instant fast cleanup crews for derailments, and high quality tank cars and quick response on call. That’s best practice. NS is no different from any other railroad (BNSF, UP, CN, etc).
They’re just looking to shift blame away from regulators for an odd occurrence with bad publicity.
when told that the smoke did turn the town brown
mayor pete shouted: justice!!!!
““We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open.””
Reliable sources indicate that Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok no longer work for Norfolk Southern.
At the time Norfolk Southern and officials were worried about a toxic spill into groundwater and an explosion that could have been catastrophic so took the action they though necessary. I’m not going to second guess them.