NS completes controlled release of fumes at derailment site

Norfolk Southern Railway's controlled release of chemical fumes from a train derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio, was successful, the railroad said today according to local news media.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro yesterday ordered further evacuations around the area where toxic chemicals continued to burn following the Feb. 3 derailment of a NS train that was carrying hazardous materials.

The governors ordered the evacuations because vinyl chloride contents of five rail cars were unstable and could potentially explode, causing deadly disbursement of shrapnel and toxic fumes. To alleviate the risk of uncontrollable shrapnel from an explosion, NS yesterday conducted a controlled release of the vinyl chloride.

According to NS, the controlled release process involved burning the rail cars' chemicals, which released fumes into the air that can be deadly if inhaled.

Fifty rail cars of the 141-car train derailed in East Palestine, which is near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state border. Twenty hazardous-materials rail cars were in the train consist, 10 of which derailed. Five of the derailed hazmat cars were carrying vinyl chloride.

In a media briefing, the National Transportation Safety Board said it appeared the derailment was caused by a mechanical issue involving one of the rail car axles.

The derailment prompted a massive fire, which continues to burn. Sunday night, a "drastic" temperature change occurred in a rail car, creating the potential for a "catastrophic tanker failure that could cause an explosion with the potential for deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile," DeWine said in a prepared statement.

DeWine twice ordered Ohio residents within a 1-mile radius to evacuate. When it was determined that NS would conduct a controlled release of vinyl chloride, the evacuations were called for again in Ohio and expanded into Pennsylvania.

Ohio state environmental and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials are monitoring air quality, DeWine said this morning in an interview on NPR.

The derailment and its aftermath raises "many questions" about the safety of freight-rail operations, he also said.

"After you see a catastrophic wreck like that and knowing what [the train was] carrying, you have to go back and re-examine the entire situation," said DeWine. "The government is doing an examination to find out what happened, but yes, it certainly is a wake-up call and we will have to take a hard look at all the railroads."

Meanwhile, there is no estimate on when freight-rail service will return to the area, NS officials said in a service alert to customers.

"Alternative routes continue to be used in an effort to minimize shipment and availability delays," they said. "These routes will add additional time to transit and customers should expect delays of at least 24 hours on shipments moving between Cleveland and the Northeast via Pittsburgh."