Portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, remained on fire by the following day on Feb. 4, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Already under intense public scrutiny for its safety practices following an explosive freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month, as well as other recent incidents, the chief executive of the Norfolk Southern railroad will likely face pointed questions from a U.S. Senate panel Thursday.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw is scheduled to appear before the Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, which is expected to examine the environmental and public health threats from the train derailment, in which several tank cars carrying hazardous materials caught fire and released toxic chemicals into the air, soil and ground water in and around the crash site.
“The main thing here is we want to get to the truth,” says EPW committee chair Democratic Sen. Tom Carper in an interview with Morning Edition host A Martinez. “How did this happen? What could have been done to to have prevented it? What is being done to help the people in the communities put their lives back together? We want a commitment from Norfolk Southern to do what is the morally right thing to do.”
Carper told NPR’s Morning Edition that the derailment has raised concerns about shipments of highly hazardous chemical and flammable substances that are rolling down railroad tracks all across the nation.
“It’s not just the people in eastern Ohio that are looking for answers or (across the border) in Pennsylvania,” Carper says. “People all over the country. This story has drawn incredible attention and … I think people are just anxious across the country to find out that the right thing is being done by Norfolk Southern, by EPA,” and by other federal, state and local agencies.
In prepared remarks obtained by NPR, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw is expected to tell the committee, “I am deeply sorry for the impact this derailment has had on the people of East Palestine and surrounding communities, and I am determined to make it right.”
Norfolk Southern is trying to get out in front on the safety issue ahead of what is expected to be an intense grilling of Shaw on his company’s safety record, announcing several steps the railroad is taking in an effort to improve safety.
The moves comes after two more serious rail accidents in Ohio in recent days, including another freight train derailment in Springfield over the weekend, and the death of a Norfolk Southern conductor who was fatally struck by a dump truck at a rail crossing at a steel plant in Cleveland early Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board cited those crashes, the East Palestine derailment, and two other Norfolk Southern fatal incidents over the last 15 months, as it opened up a broad investigation into Norfolk Southern’s organization and safety culture this week.
“Given the number and significance of recent Norfolk Southern accidents… the NTSB is concerned that several organizational factors may be involved in the accidents, including safety culture,” the Board says in its press release. “The NTSB will conduct an in-depth investigation into the safety practices and culture of the company. At the same time, the company should not wait to improve safety and the NTSB urges it to do so immediately.”
The Federal Railroad Administration is also widening its investigation into the railroad company, announcing this week that it will conduct a 60-day safety review of Norfolk Southern.
“After a series of derailments and the death of one of its workers,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement, “we are initiating this further supplemental safety review of Norfolk Southern, while also calling on Norfolk Southern to act urgently to improve its focus on safety so the company can begin earning back the trust of the public and its employees.”
Following the fatal incident early Tuesday morning in Cleveland, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw issued a statement announcing new safety briefings “reaching every employee across our network,” starting Wednesday.
“Moving forward, we are going to rebuild our safety culture from the ground up,” Shaw said. “We are going to invest more in safety. This is not who we are, it is not acceptable, and it will not continue.”
The Association of American Railroads, the main lobbying group for the seven major large, class one freight railroads, announced Wednesday a number of steps that the industry will be taking to improve safety in the wake of the East Palestine disaster and other derailments.
The measures include a focus on strengthening the network of trackside detectors that railroads use to spot overheating and other problems on railcar wheelsets and other equipment before they cause a derailment, as well as tank car safety improvements.
Several lawmakers have introduced legislation that would mandate those and other freight rail safety measure. Those proposals will likely be highlighted during Thursday’s hearing.
NPR Politics Reporter Ximena Bustillo contributed to this report