Now to part two of our conversation with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw who made another stop in East Palestine this weekend.
 
We're getting new insight about the decision to vent-and-burn train cars, a process that released toxic chemicals into the air after the derailment
After the NTSB's hearings on the disaster we learned during testimony from Oxy Vinyls to the NTSB that the cars were not in danger of catastrophic failure due to pressure build-up.
 
That's despite officials telling residents about that danger before they decided to vent-and-burn the cars.
 
21 News asked Shaw about the company's support of the vent-and-burn strategy.
 
We wanted to know whether the railroad was more interested in getting the rail line back up and running to minimize its loss of profits.
 
"Throughout the process the only consideration was the health and the safety of the community. And Governor DeWine's office said that was the right decision, and Fire Chief Drabec sais that was the right decision," CEO Shaw emphasized.
 
Shaw says federal, state and local authorities worked closely together which led to the vent and burn decision. 
 
We are working to find out if Governor DeWine and East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick based their decisions on a catastrophic risk of failure and a subsequent uncontrolled explosion when they made their decisions, or if they had information from Oxy Vinyls.
 
Paul Thomas of Oxy Vinyls  testified that he raised the matter three times that he did not believe polymerization was happening and cited pressure readings showing the pressure inside the tanks to be far below critical levels and falling.
 
Others who were at the scene the night of the derailment testified there was confusion  because the labeling indicates that polymerization and explosion are possible when vinyl chloride is exposed to heat.  
 
Steve Smith of Oxy Vinyls initially said polymerization could be occurring, but that he was not an expert and would need to consult with others in the company who were . 
 
Once consulted, Smith again reiterated that the threat was not there in this case because of the low, and falling, pressure.
 
Following the NTSB hearings, 21 News reached out to Governor DeWine's office to ask if he was aware of the concerns from OxyVinyls and were told that the Governor did not learn of those concerns until the hearings and were unaware that there may not have been an imminent explosion risk at the time the decision to burn the cars was made.