© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view of caution tape as members of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (not pictured) inspect the site of a hazardous material train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio , USA, February 16, 2023. REUTERS/Alan Liberado
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By David Shepardson and Brad Brooks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Friday defended its response to the February 3 derailment of a train loaded with toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, which started a fire and sent a cloud of smoke over the city, saying that he was sending more federal resources.
The train derailment, operated by norfolk south (NYSE:), forced thousands of residents to evacuate as rail crews drained and burned the chemicals. No deaths or injuries were reported, but residents have been demanding answers about the potential health risks.
“We have mobilized a strong multi-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing. “The federal government is committed to making sure the community gets what it needs. and it will be there on the ground as long as it takes.”
In response to the derailment and the safety concerns it raises, US Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell said late Friday that she has opened an investigation into the railroad’s hazardous materials safety practices.
Cantwell, in a letter to the CEO of Norfolk Southern and the CEOs of six other freight rail operators, noted that the train had “20 hazmat cars in total carrying vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate and isobutylene, of which which 11 derailed”.
“Every railroad should reexamine its hazmat safety practices to better protect its employees, the environment and American families and reaffirm safety as a top priority,” Cantwell wrote.
The letter was also sent to the CEOs of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE) Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), Canadian National, Canadian Pacific (NYSE:), CSX (NASDAQ:), Kansas City Southern (NYSE:) and Pacific Union (NYSE:).
The railways did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday that they would deploy a team of medical personnel and toxicologists to conduct public health testing and evaluation. Federal Railroad Administration chief Amit Bose will visit the site next week and the Environmental Protection Agency is stepping up testing.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said the railroad established an initial $1 million community support fund and distributed $1.7 million in direct financial assistance to more than 1,100 families and businesses to cover evacuation costs. “We won’t let you down,” he told residents in a letter.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that a plume of pollution moving up the Ohio River, a source of drinking water for 5 million people, had dissipated, saying state tests never showed the water contaminated water will enter municipal drinking water systems on its way. .
DeWine called on Congress to revise rail safety regulations, lamenting that states have little power to require information about what types of dangerous goods move across their borders.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Thursday more must be done to address rail safety in the face of hundreds of train derailments each year. He pointed out that there are approximately 1,000 train derailments a year.
DeWine said he hopes there will be a full presidential commission or extensive congressional hearings to investigate the crash and make sure it never happens again.
The Association of American Railroads said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) must continue its investigation into the accident before any changes to safety rules are made.
Cantwell noted that in the past five years, the largest railways “reduced their workforce by nearly a third, closed rail stations where wagons are traditionally inspected, and are running longer, heavier trains.” The group did not immediately comment on Cantwell’s letter.
NTSB President Jennifer Homendy said on Twitter that a dropped rule to require electronically controlled air brakes would not have prevented the derailment because that would only apply to high-risk flammable trains.