NTSB: Chemical burn wasn’t needed after derailment
A controlled burn of hazardous chemicals carried out after the derailment last year of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, was unnecessary, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s chief executive.
Norfolk Southern contractors’ recommendation to carry out a controlled burn lacked scientific reasoning, discounted available temperature data and contradicted expert feedback, agency Chair Jennifer Homendy said Wednesday.
Homendy’s comments were in response to questions from Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing.
Oxy Vinyls, the company shipping the chemicals, advised Norfolk Southern and its contractors that there was no justification to do a controlled burn, Homendy said, adding the tank cars had begun to cool.
Homendy said Gov. Mike Dewine and the incident commander were given incomplete information when deciding to vent and burn the five tank cars containing vinyl chloride.
“They were left out of the room,” she said of Oxy Vinyls’ experts. “The incident commander didn’t even know they existed. Neither did the governor.”
Dewine spokesperson Dan Tierney said the governor and incident command were presented with two options: vent and release the vinyl chloride or risk an uncontrolled explosion that would send shrapnel flying around the area.
Tierney said no one suggested they
could wait for the tanks to cool down.
“It’s somewhat ludicrous to think that somebody on the ground in East Palestine didn’t know how to get information to the people making decisions,” Tierney said. “That’s where the governor’s frustration is.”
The final decision to do a controlled burn came from the incident commander with input from the railroad along with local, state and federal authorities, Norfolk Southern said in a statement.
“The top priority of everyone involved was the safety of the community, as well as limiting the impact of the incident,” the statement reads. “The successful controlled release prevented a
potentially catastrophic uncontrolled explosion that could have caused significant damage for the community.”
Environmental testing in coordination with federal and state environmental protection agencies has shown the community’s air and drinking water is safe.
President Joe Biden visited East Palestine last month to praise what he called a “Herculean” cleanup and make a show of drinking the tap water.
A total of 38 rail cars came off the tracks during the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment, including 11 that were carrying dangerous chemicals.
At least five different chemicals were carried in rail cars that derailed, according to a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to Norfolk Southern. The chemicals included vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and isobutylene.
Vinyl chloride is a chemical used to make PVC pipes and is considered a carcinogen. Exposure to vinyl chloride is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer as well as brain and lung cancers.
Burning vinyl chloride creates the toxic gas phosgene and hydrogen chloride. The gases were used as weapons during World War I.
Various videos of the controlled burn show pillars of fire and subsequent thick, black smoke engulfing the immediate surrounding area.
Roughly 2,000 residents were forced to temporarily evacuate from their homes after hazardous chemicals were released into the soil, water and air. Some still worry about the long-term health and economic effects of the derailment.
“This is outrageous. This explosion – which devasted so many – was unnecessary. The people of East Palestine are still living with the consequences of this toxic burn. This is more proof that Norfolk Southern put profits over safety & cannot be trusted,” Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said in a written statement.
Norfolk Southern said it has spent more than $1.1 billion in its response to the derailment.
Since the fire began, the company says it has invested $103.2 million in the community, including $21 million distributed to residents.
Columbus Dispatch staff writer Max Filby contributed to this report.