National Transportation Safety Board faults Norfolk Southern and contractors with unnecessary pollution<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Transportation Safety <\/strong>Board said that Norfolk Southern and its contractors unnecessarily burned toxic chemicals – including vinyl chloride \u2013 from its tank cars during the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio<\/a>, last February, unleashing hazardous fumes into the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a board meeting on Tuesday, the NTSB said that an overheated wheel bearing caused the derailment, adding that Norfolk Southern and its contractors \u201cmisinterpreted and disregarded evidence\u201d in reaching its decision to execute a controversial controlled burn over concerns that the vinyl chloride could potentially explode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following Norfolk Southern and its contractors\u2019 decision to vent and burn the chemicals, plumes of black smoke filled the air of East Palestine for days. The derailment and fumes prompted between 1,500 and 2,000 of the town\u2019s approximately 4,900 residents to evacuate. It also triggered what residents describe<\/a> as various health issues including nausea, diarrhea and headaches due to the chemical exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vinyl chloride, a colorless and highly flammable gas used to make plastic, can cause a slew of health issues including drowsiness, loss of coordination, visual and auditory abnormalities, nausea, headache and, in some cases, death, according to<\/a> the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Tuesday\u2019s board meeting, the NTSB said that OxyVinyls, the manufacturer of the vinyl chloride, informed Norfolk Southern that there was no risk of explosion as the chemicals were being stored in tank cars that were sturdy enough to withstand crashes, according to Politico. The outlet further reported that the vinyl chloride had been stabilized to prevent any chemical reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Norfolk Southern and its contractors did not inform the local fire chief about not needing to burn the chemicals. Other hazardous chemicals released during the derailment included<\/a> butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Stancil, an NTSB hazardous material investigator, reportedly also said during the board meeting: \u201cNorfolk Southern\u2019s contractors, who were in control of the derailment scene assessment, compromised the integrity of the vent and burn decision by withholding complete \u2026 information from the incident commander,\u201d as reported by Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stancil added<\/a>: \u201cNorfolk Southern and its contractors continued to assert the necessity of a vent and burn, even though available evidence should have led them to re-evaluate their initial conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pushing back against NTSB\u2019s findings, Norfolk Southern said that it did not withhold information from local officials and that they could have spoken to OxyVinyls\u2019 employees who were at the scene of the derailment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was no obstacle to them making their views known to the ultimate decision-makers,\u201d Norfolk Southern said\u2002<\/a>in a statement. The company also said that OxyVinyls provided it with \u201cconflicting information\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe vent and burn effectively avoided a potential uncontrolled explosion. There was no loss of life, injuries, or damage to property, and contractors took steps to manage environmental impact,\u201d Norfolk Southern added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy noted during the meeting that \u201cthe absence of fatality or injury doesn\u2019t mean the presence of safety\u201d, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In May, Norfolk Southern agreed<\/a> to pay a $310m settlement with the US government over the disastrous derailment. In addition to paying a $15m civil penalty for violating clean-water laws, the company agreed to pay hundreds of millions in cleanup costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The settlement came a month after the company agreed<\/a> to pay $600m in a class-action lawsuit settlement that it said would resolve all class-action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hazardous chemicals that were released into the air following the derailment spread to 16 states, according to<\/a> a report released last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe saw the chemical signal from this fire at a lot of sites and far away,\u201d David Gay, a University of Wisconsin researcher and lead author of the report, said in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was more than we ever would have guessed,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cThat can distribute pollution a long way \u2026 and it was a nasty little fire with lots of emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n