This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
7/15/2024
The National Transportation Safety Board on July 12 issued its final report on its investigation into the February 2023 Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
As it announced at its meeting held June 25, the board concluded that the derailment occurred because a bearing on a hopper car overheated and caused an axle to separate. The derailed equipment included 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials.
Three of the hazardous-materials tank cars sustained mechanical breaches during the derailment and released flammable or combustible materials; five others released flammable gases as a result of fire exposure or deliberate breaching with explosives to perform a vent-and-burn procedure.
Safety issues identified in the report include the failure of systems intended to identify failing wheel bearings; inadequate training of volunteer first responders; delayed transmittal of train consist information to first responders; illegibility of fire-damaged placards; use of tank cars with documented poor derailment performance; a tank-car certification process that could not ensure that tank car fittings are compatible with approved commodities; misleading written guidance and information about chemical hazards; and a flawed communication and decision-making process leading up to the deliberate breach of five tank cars containing vinyl chloride monomer.
The NTSB issued new recommendations to the U.S. transportation secretary, as well as to the Federal Railroad Administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the state of Ohio, the Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency, the Association of American Railroads, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, The Chlorine Institute, the American Chemistry Council, Norfolk Southern Railway and Oxy Vinyls LP.
The board reiterated one recommendation to Class Is, one to the transportation secretary, one to PHMSA and two to the FRA that are classified. The entire report can be read here.