Derailment update: NS' Shaw addresses East Palestine residents; NTSB's Homendy responds to critics

Norfolk Southern Railway will remain in East Palestine, Ohio, "as long as it takes" to help the community recover from the train derailment that occurred there two weeks ago, President and CEO Alan Shaw said in a letter released yesterday.

Shaw wrote the letter to the community’s residents, who have expressed anger and fear about the derailment’s impact on the environmental safety of their homes, air and water.

The Feb. 3 derailment involved a 141-car train, leading to a massive fire. Twenty hazardous-materials rail cars were in the consist, 10 of which derailed. Five of the derailed hazmat cars were carrying vinyl chloride, which can be deadly if inhaled.

"When I visited East Palestine last week, you told me how the train derailment has upended your lives and how concerned you are about the safety of your air, water and land. Many of you have also reached out to Norfolk Southern to share your fears, your anger and your frustration," Shaw wrote. "I hear you. We hear you."

The railroad "will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety and to help East Palestine recover and thrive," he added.

Shaw explained that crews are cleaning the site thoroughly. Additionally, the railroad has opened a Family Assistance Center to meet immediate needs and has implemented a comprehensive testing program to ensure water, air and soil safety. NS also has created a $1 million community support fund "as a down payment on our commitment to rebuild," he said.

"But our work is far from over. As we continue site clean-up, the National Transportation Safety Board moves forward with its investigation and necessary environmental testing is carried out, I promise to keep you updated every step of the way," he wrote.

Meanwhile, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy last night posted a thread on Twitter directed to the East Palestine community and that included a "plea to those spreading misinformation" about the situation.

"I urge you: Let the NTSB lead the safety analysis," she tweeted. "Anything else is harmful — and adding pain to the community that’s been through enough."

She ensured that the NTSB will make public all information as soon as possible as it continues its investigation into the derailment.

"NTSB investigators will thoroughly examine the tank cars once decontaminated. As always, we’ll issue urgent safety recommendations as needed," she tweeted. "Urgent safety recommendations may be issue at any time; meaning, we don’t wait until the end of our investigation if immediate safety action is warranted."

In her Twitter thread, Homendy also addressed critics who’ve suggested that electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on certain tank cars would have prevented the accident.

In 2018, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration repealed a May 2015 rulemaking from the Federal Railroad Administration that would have required ECP brakes to be installed.

"The ECP braking rule would’ve applied only to high-hazard flammable trains," Homendy tweeted. "The train that derailed in East Palestine was a mixed freight train containing only three placarded Class 3 flammable liquids cars. This means even if the rule had gone into effect, this train wouldn’t have had ECP brakes."