A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
WASHINGTON — A Western Pennsylvania congressman wants the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Norfolk Southern intentionally provided misleading information after its train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, leading to what appeared to be an unnecessary release and burn of vinyl chloride.
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, made the request in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland after the National Transportation Safety Board, in its findings on the derailment, said the railroad’s “incomplete and misleading information” helped lead to the decision to release and burn toxic chemicals. That, in turn, prompted the evacuation of the small Ohio village, sent a plume of black smoke into the skies over Beaver County, and left residents on both sides of the border fearful of long-term health effects.
“The implication of this dishonesty is clear: the vent and burn was not necessary, and Norfolk Southern and its contractors pursued it to expedite the process of resuming rail operations at the expense of public safety,” Mr. Deluzio and three other members of the House Transportation Committee wrote to Mr. Garland. “The black plume of fire, toxic chemicals, and smoke that we witnessed was the result of Norfolk Southern’s misrepresentation of the situation to the incident commander. This not only put the first responders at the site at risk, but also the surrounding communities and any downstream, downwind communities. It is unacceptable.”
Mr. Deluzio said he wanted the agency to investigate Norfolk Southern and its contractors “to determine whether they deliberately withheld critical information from the incident commander and purposefully misrepresented that the tank cars were at risk of catastrophic failure from a polymerization reaction, resulting in the unnecessary decision to vent and burn five derailed vinyl chloride monomer tank cars in a rush to resume freight rail service. Lives changed forever that day and we want to ensure that responsible parties are held to account for their actions.”
The Justice Department confirmed receiving the letter but declined further comment. Norfolk Southern did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In its report blaming the derailment on a rail car’s defective wheel bearing, the NTSB said: “According to the Federal Railroad Administration, a vent and burn procedure should be a last resort, used when a tank car is about to fail. Norfolk Southern rejected three other removal methods and began planning for a vent and burn shortly after the derailment, investigators found.”
Smoke rises from a derailed cargo train in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 4, 2023. (Dustin Franz/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)
The safety board said Norfolk Southern contractors were quick to release and burn the chemicals them due to fears of the vinyl chloride bonding together in a process known as polymerization, causing temperatures to quickly rise inside rail cars and increase the risk of explosion.
But the NTSB found that polymerization wasn’t occurring and evidence instead showed chemicals dropping. Which chemical experts shared with officials.
NTSB investigators found that releasing and burning the chemicals were not necessary.
Vinyl chloride manufacturer OxyVinyls, which had a representative at the site of the derailment, recommended that first responders and Norfolk Southern first observe car temperatures before pushing for the release and burn of the chemicals, NTSB said. But other options were rejected and the chemical companies were not part of the command team directing the response. NTSB investigator Paul Stancil said he didn’t see why such companies were excluded.
The derailment occurred Feb. 3, 2023, when dozens of cars of a Norfolk Southern train, many of them carrying toxic chemicals, went off the tracks in East Palestine. The incident led the Biden administration to approve several new safety rules, including requiring two-person train crews and mandating railroads to let first responders know what chemicals were traveling through their communities when a train derails.
Legislation pending in Congress but being held up by Republican opposition in both houses would increase federal regulation of railroads and raise the maximum penalty for violating rail safety laws from $100,000 to $10 million. Mr. Deluzio is sponsoring the bill in the House and U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, D-Pa., are among the Senate sponsors.
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