Cleanup continues at Ohio derailment site; CEO appears before Senate panel

Read the latest update on the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment saga

Norfolk Southern Corp. has begun removing potentially contaminated soil from East Palestine, Ohio, where a Feb. 3 train derailment led to a burnoff of five rail cars of PVC feedstock vinyl chloride monomer.

Soil removal began March 4, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Ohio EPA said that as of March 9, more than 6,000 pounds of solid waste have also left the derailment site. More than half of that amount has been taken to sites in Ohio to be incinerated. The remainder will be placed in landfills in Michigan and Indiana.

In addition, almost 4.5 million gallons of wastewater has been removed from the area. That material will be disposed of through deep well injection at sites in Ohio, Michigan and Texas.

Since soil removal began, U.S. EPA has been monitoring and conducting real-time environmental sampling near the worksite, officials said. To date, no off-site releases of vapor at levels of concern have been detected.

"EPA does not anticipate exceedances of levels of health concern because of this work," officials said. "We are carefully overseeing this work to ensure residents' safety."

They added that, while the agency doesn't anticipate to see levels exceed health concerns, it does expect the potential for increased odors from the soil removal. At EPA's request, Norfolk Southern is offering financial help for temporary lodging and other expenses to impacted residents.

The derailment happened the night of Feb. 3. Almost 40 rail cars derailed, including five that contained VCM, which is a feedstock for PVC resin. No injuries were reported from the derailment.

Rising temperatures in one of the VCM cars led officials from both Ohio and Pennsylvania — very close to the derailment site — and the railroad on Feb. 6 to drain all five cars and burn off the VCM, resulting in thick black smoke and a chemical odor throughout the area. Officials said that decision was made because of the possibility of an explosion that could have sent shrapnel up to a mile away.

Government and railroad officials have said the air and water have tested safe in most of the area, but local residents — some of whom had been evacuated for three days — remain concerned about their health and the impact of the burnoff.

On March 9, farmers in the affected area attended a round table discussion hosted by the Ohio Department of Agriculture in Salem, Ohio. The event focused on the upcoming planting season and addressed concerns about potential agricultural impacts caused by the train derailment. ODA is working with Ohio State University and agricultural partners in Columbiana County to develop a plan for the testing of milk, eggs, and plant materials.

On March 9 during a U.S. Senate hearing on the derailment, Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw testified and apologized for the derailment and its effect on the community.

"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," Shaw said. "We will clean the site safely, thoroughly, and with urgency."

He added that financial assistance "cannot change what happened, but it is an important part of doing the right thing." To date, NS has committed to reimbursements and investments of more than $20 million, including by helping more than 4,200 families through its Family Assistance Center in East Palestine, according to Shaw.

"I want to be clear: this financial assistance is just a down payment," he said. "I've met with community leaders, business owners, school officials, clergy, and others to begin to identify ways we can invest in the future prosperity of East Palestine and support the long-term needs of its people."

Shaw also said that NS "is also committed to learning from this accident and working with public officials and the industry to make railroads even safer."

Shaw stopped short of endorsing a bipartisan bill that would address rail safety.

Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel also testified at the hearing. She said that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine "has been to the village regularly to reassure the community that — while this is Norfolk Southern's train, their wreck, and their mess — the entire apparatus of state government has been mobilized to assist as East Palestine begins to recover from this traumatic experience."

"We have worked around the clock since that day to oversee the work of [NS] contractors to remove the gross contamination from the creeks in the immediate derailment area," she added. "Contaminated liquids and soil are being carefully removed from the site daily."

Vogel also said that Senators and their constituents "probably have many of the same questions that I hear from residents every day. How long will we test the water? How long until the fish come back? Can I play in the yard and eat out of my garden? How or when will we know if the damage to our village is worse than we thought, or even irreparable?"

"These are legitimate questions, and we are committed to working with residents to find answers. … I am personally invested in helping this community heal, and I can promise that Gov. DeWine, his administration, and the whole team at Ohio EPA will not stop until the science definitively shows that the residents of East Palestine are safe in their beautiful community."

On March 6, NS issued a six-point safety improvement plan. Under the plan, NS will:

• Enhance its hot bearing detector network.

• Pilot next-generation hot bearing detectors.

• Work with industry on practices for hot bearing detectors.

• Deploy more acoustic bearing detectors.

• Accelerate its Digital Train Inspection program.

• Support a strong safety culture.

NS on March 8 also announced that it will create a new regional training center in Ohio for first responders. Officials said that the mission of the safety training center will be to provide additional free training for first responders from Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the greater region. Training classes will begin March 22 at an NS rail yard in Bellevue, Ohio.

On March 2, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating aluminum housing covers on three of the vinyl chloride monomer tank cars involved in the derailment. Based on damage assessment inspections, NTSB officials are concerned that aluminum protective housing covers on some tank cars melted or were consumed when pressure relief devices (PRD) vented burning gas while functioning as designed to relieve tank pressure.

A preliminary report from NTSB on Feb. 23 had cited an overheated wheel bearing as the cause of the derailment. A detection system alerted the train's three-person crew to the overheating, according to the report. The train was traveling at 47 mph at the time of the derailment, 3 mph below the speed limit for that type of train.

In addition to the five VCM cars, the train was hauling four cars of PVC resin and two cars each of polyethylene and polypropylene resins.

Through Feb. 25, chemicals — including plastic resins — accounted for almost 14 percent of U.S. intermodal rail traffic in 2023, according to the Association of American Railroads. Chemicals and plastics accounted for more than 253,000 carloads in that span, trailing only coal among items transported by rail.

NS trains have been involved in three derailments and accidents in Ohio and West Virginia since the East Palestine derailment. On Feb. 17, a mudslide caused five coal cars to derail in Delbarton, W.Va. On March 3, 20 rail cars derailed in Springfield, Ohio. Neither of those incidents resulted in injuries or environmental impact.

Then on March 7, NS conductor Louis Shuster was killed when a dump truck hit a train at a rail yard in Cleveland. Shuster, age 46, was outside of the train when it was struck.

In addition, a train operated by CSX derailed March 8 in Sandstone, W. Va., injuring three workers and causing diesel fuel to spill into a nearby river. Parts of the train caught on fire from the derailment, which was caused by debris on the tracks from a recent rockslide.

East Palestine has a population of about 5,000. It is located 15 miles south of Youngstown and about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.