WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board on Friday released the list of witnesses scheduled to appear at next week’s investigative hearing on the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern derailment and hazardous material release in East Palestine, Ohio.
That hearing is scheduled for June 22-23 at East Palestine High School and will deal with the decision to vent and burn the vinyl chloride carried in five tank cars; emergency responder preparedness; and freight car bearing failures and wayside detectors, among other issues [see “NTSB to hold East Palestine investigative hearing …,” Trains News Wire, May 25, 2023].
The scheduled witnesses will represent the following organization or entities:
— Association of American Railroads;
— Beaver County Emergency Services;
— Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen;
— Carroll Applied Science, LLC;
— East Liverpool Fire Department;
— East Palestine Fire Department;
— East Palestine Police Department;
— ESi
— Federal Railroad Administration;
— Midland Manufacturing;
— Norfolk Southern;
— OxyVinyls;
— Ohio National Guard;
— Ohio Department of Public Safety;
— Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency;
— Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration;
— Specialized Professional Services, Inc.;
— Specialized Response Solutions;
— Transportation Communications Union/IAM;
— Trinity Rail;
— University Transportation Center for Railway Safety, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. A detailed list of witness names, biographies, and affiliations, along with reports and exhibits, will be included in the hearing docket that will be opened at the start of the hearing on the NTSB website. More details on the hearing are available here.
Why is the Association of American Railroads considered a “witness”? They are a PR mouthpiece and lobby entity for the railroads and NS is already on the witness list.