By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Norfolk Southern and its contractors did not need to vent and burn hazardous materials from tank cars after a February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the National Transportation Safety Board staff said Tuesday.
The derailment forced residents to temporarily abandon their homes after the train caught fire and released over a million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants near the state’s border with Pennsylvania. Last month, Norfolk Southern agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty and $57.1 million in past government cleanup costs, as well as millions in future costs to resolve a U.S. government lawsuit.
The NTSB staff said at board meeting Tuesday that a key decision by Norfolk Southern and its contractors to seek approval from the unified incident commander to vent and burn hazardous materials from five tank cars was unnecessary after they “misinterpreted and disregarded evidence” and an alternative option to allow the cars to cool was overlooked.
The NTSB staff also said Norfolk Southern and its contractors withheld “complete and accurate expert opinions and information.
Norfolk Southern said the company and its contractors’ “only motivation in recommending the vent and burn to the Unified Command was the health and safety of the community and first responders,” adding the decision was to “protect the community from a potential catastrophic explosion.”
The company said the NTSB mischaracterized the basis of the recommendation and rejected the contention it withheld views from the incident commander. Last week, the railroad said it would convene a vent and burn workgroup to assess current practices and existing protocols.
NTSB staff want the Federal Railroad Administration to set new safety regulations for inspections and maintenance of heat bearing detectors, also called box detectors or wayside detectors. The devices identify potential train safety issues by measuring temperature as they pass.
Board staff also wants U.S. Department of Transportation to establish a replacement schedule to stop the use of tank cars like some in the Ohio derailment and replace them with newer, safer tank cars with thicker tank walls and thermal protection.
The NTSB staff also wants the state of Ohio to improve volunteer firefighter training standards and to speed transmittal of information to emergency responders about hazardous materials.
Under a proposed consent decree estimated to be worth more than $310 million, the railroad also agreed to significant safety improvements and training, which includes installing additional devices to detect overheated wheel bearings early enough to prevent derailments. Norfolk Southern says under the agreement it will spend $244 million on safety initiatives through 2025.
The incident sparked public outrage and calls for railroad safety reforms in Congress but legislation has stalled. Some lawmakers had said they wanted to wait for NTSB’s report before acting on safety changes.
Norfolk Southern, which did not admit wrongdoing, said last month that the deal means the company will face no criminal penalties and the settlement is included in the around $1.7 billion in related charges to date for the incident. It added the settlement will not require it to take additional charges.
In April, Norfolk Southern agreed to pay $600 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the derailment. The settlement covers personal injury claims from residents and businesses in the city and impacted surrounding communities and was accounted for in the $1.7 billion charge.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Nick Zieminski and Aurora Ellis)
