East Palestine: Norfolk Southern CEO questioned in US Senate hearing, noting issues in communication early on
During the Thursday US Senate hearing called "Protecting Public Health and the Environment in the Wake of the Norfolk Southern Train Derailment and Chemical Release in East Palestine," Norfolk Southern's President and CEO Alan Shaw was in the hot seat.
Hearing Chairman Sen. Tom Carper started off by saying the goal in the aftermath of a disaster is to restore trust, and make sure future incidents never happen again, and hold the company accountable for the cleanup and restoration of East Palestine.
Carper said some initial lack of transparency on Norfolk Southern's behalf had left a sense of distrust in the company, and concern over the cleanup going forward.
Alan Shaw testified Tuesday "How deeply sorry I am" for what happened in East Palestine.
"I am determined to make this right, you have my personal commitment," Shaw said. He said they are working on conjunction with the EPA and other agencies.
Carper asked Shaw about making East Palestine whole, asking about the toxic cleanup concerns and asked about the impact on the home and businesses in the community. He asked Haw to answer three questions with yes or no answers:
Will you be there as long as it takes to make East Palestine, Darlington, and surrounding communities whole?
Shaw answered he was sorry for the impact the derailment has had, and said "Yes, it is my personal commitment, and Norfolk Southern's commitment, to be there as long as it takes."
Will Norfolk Southern compensate the people of these communities, Carper asked.
Shaw responded that they "would do more for than less for the clean up, and more than less for the people of East Palestine," but did not answer in the yes or no format requested by Carper.
Carper's third question was whether the railroad would commit to paying for long-term health testing for people in the impact communities.
Shaw answered he is committed to doing what is right... and will be there 10 years from now.
Carper also asked on behalf of John Fetterman if Shaw would support the rail safety legislation proposed by himself, along with Senators Sherrod Brown, JD Vance and Bob Casey.
Shaw said, "We are committed to the legislative intent to make rails safer," adding that Norfolk Southern runs a safe railroad, and his intent is to make it safer.
Shaw said the company provided support for 4,400 families so far, stating he has spent more than $21 million so far stating this is all just a down payment, and the are no strings attached to the help and support, including the safety of the air, ground and water in the region, along with monitoring that he said has been ongoing since the derailment.
Shaw said he takes railroad safety seriously, stating that will his railroad wasn';t speeding or in any violations on the day of the derailment, that it simply isn't enough he said. Shaw said he has asked his team to look at ways to improve safety immediately. He stated he plans to make the company's safety policies the best in the industry.
Shaw said a Norfolk Southern employee that lives in East Palestine to take on a new role, as a full-time liaison that will report directly to Shaw on the needs and concerns of the residents of East Palestine.
Shaw said he will use "the right equipment and right technology" for rail safety. "You have my commitment on that," he added.
Hospitalized Pa. Sen. John Fetterman sent in a response that said he wants to hold Norfolk Southern accountable and get Pennsylvania and Ohio resources they need.
Pa. Senator Bob Casey thanked Ohio US Senators Sherrod Brown, JD Vance, along with Fetteraman for their help on the US Senate bill proposed last week.
Ohio Senator Brown said that East Palestine once made 80 percent of the ceramics found in the US, and eventually, those jobs moved overseas. The town has seen hard times before, the derailment has created another long-time issue for the community.
Brown said the Norfolk Southern has been busy responding more to Wall Street than for safety, and cared more for residents along its rails, instead of it shareholders, this could have been prevented, he said.
Brown said Norfolk Southern said with its record profits,m it now needs to pay whatever it costs, for as long as it takes to make the town whole again.
Brown spoke of the death of a Norfolk Southern employee in recent days, and other derailments that have happened since the February 3 derailment.
Senator Vance said the response was a little too slow. He spoke about how the EPA is making it harder to get the toxic dirt out of Ohio, and to aggressively to properly licensed facilities.
Vance said need to make accidents less likely to occur, and communities need to know what all trains contain so first responders know what they are dealing with in incidents like this.
Vance said while he felt the deregulation of the rail industry was the right move, but change is needed, and spoke on how the government had to come in to avoid a strike just months ago. He said it was time to choose between big business or the rights of the people of East Palestine.
Debra Shore, Regional Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region V addressed questions for the senators, after several questions the response time.
Shore said the US EPA was on the scene within hours on the day of the derailment, "and every day since, boots on the ground."
Shore said that every train whistle reminds residents of the trauma inflicted upon the residents in East Palestine. She added the residents are not alone, saying the EPA is there for them.
Shore said that the EPA is using state-of-the-art technology for continuous air monitoring and since the fire was extinguished on February 8, monitors have not detected any volatile organic compounds above levels of health concerns.
Shore stated that as of March 4, 600 homes have had indoor air testing completed, and no detections of vinyl chloride has been detected.
Anne Vogel, Director of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said her department respond to to the disaster within one hour after being notified by the railroad of the disaster. It's first action was to stop the release of chemicals into the nearby creek.
Vogel said there were several missteps of information that could have contributed to decision-making early during the derailment, but believes these gaps have since been addressed.
Vogel told the committee that water samples are taken from 20 locations daily and tested, and posting results to the Ohio EPA site. Chemicals of concern are dissipating Vogel said.
Eric Brewer, Director and Chief of Hazardous Materials Response Beaver County Department of Emergency Services said the decision to go from one tanker car to burn the vinyl chloride to five was "jaw-dropping," because of the impact it had, but said that communications with officials did improve.
She spoke on the wells that have been installed to monitor now and in the future for contaminants and if to watch over the city's water supply.
US Senator Shelly Capito of nearby West Virginia said those impacted need to hear directly from the railroad information on all aspects and said that in the aftermath, efforts fell short, citing the time in took for the US EPA to get accurate information of what they were dealing with in this environmental disaster.
Capito said the initial delays has led to the distrust by residents and not by pointing them to the data on the EPA website.
She called for the committee to get the bottom of the issues and how to improve response and information in the future. She also shared concerns about the dirt being burned by a company she stated had issues in the past.
She asked Shore about the shipping of the waste to other facilities, and Shore answered that the debris and waste is being sent to facilities approved to handle and that have the capacity to deal with it.
Senator Jeff Merkely of Oregon said shared a similar derailment that happened in Oregon, pushed for braking and tracks improvements, and said little progress was made overall.
Merkely said "we know the dangers posed" from the chemicals hauled by rail across the US, and look for what investments are needed to be made to prevent these all to common derailments that happen in the US.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said East Palestine residents are concerned after many are reporting being ill since the tragedy, and serious issues to be looked at going forward, from response to the help going forward for the town.
US Senator Bernie Sanders asked Shaw if he would end the practice of slashing Norfolk Southern's workforce? Yes or no/
Shaw responded stating that since he became CEO in 2022, he has hired 1,500 additional employees.
Sanders asked Shaw, "Will you lead the industry in doing away with precision railroad scheduling?" He also asked for a commitment from Shaw for paid sick days for all employees?"
Shaw said he would commit to continuing to discuss with employees quality of life issues. Sanders responded to Shaw saying he sounded like a politician.
Senate Ed Markey of Massachusetts directly asked if the railroad would compensate East Palestine for lost property values?
Shaw repeated the figure of committing $21 million as a "down payment." Markey told the CEO the right answer was to say "Yes, we will." Shaw answered with a repeated answer that he is committed to doing what is right for the community. Markey added "We are not hearing the rights things here today."
Shaw said that people concerned can also go the NSmakingitright.com
Shaw said he is focused on the environmental cleanup.
"I have a genuine affection for the folks of East Palestine," Shaw said.
