WASHINGTON — The controlled burn of vinyl chloride following last year’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was unnecessary, National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told a Senate hearing today — and might have been avoided with better communication.
Homendy, testifying at a Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on NTSB investigations, said in questioning by Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) that Norfolk Southern’s contractors “lacked the scientific background” to conclude that a chemical reaction was taking place that could have led to an explosion.
She also said that when the contractor, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, and the incident commander were making their decision on the burn, “they were not given full information because no one was told [experts from chemical shipper] Oxy Vinyls was on scene. They were left out of the room. The incident commander didn’t even know they existed. Neither did the governor. So they were provided incomplete information to make a decision.”
The decision to vent and burn the five tank cars of the highly toxic material on Feb. 6, 2023, was one of the focal points of the NTSB’s hearing on the East Palestine incident [see “NTSB East Palestine hearing centers on decision …,” Trains News Wire, June 23, 2023]. The resulting plume of thick black smoke became the visual signature of the incident, as well as raising concern about the resulting spread of toxic material.
Ohio’s other senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, called Homendy’s testimony “outrageous.
“This explosion — which devastated so many — was unnecessary,” Brown said in a statement. “The people of East Palestine are still living with the consequences of this toxic burn. This is more proof that Norfolk Southern put profits over safety and cannot be trusted.”
Norfolk Southern, in a statement reported by WEWS-TV, said the vent-and-burn decision “was made by the Incident Commander, with input from multiple stakeholders, including Norfolk Southern and local, state and federal authorities. The top priority of everyone involved was the safety of the community, as well as limiting the impact of the incident. The successful controlled release prevented a potentially catastrophic uncontrolled explosion that could have caused significant damage for the community. To date, continuous environmental testing in coordination with and alongside U.S. and Ohio EPA has shown the air and drinking water in the community are safe.”
A full recording of the hearing, including Homendy’s testimony, is available here.
The NTSB is slated to finalize its report on the East Palestine incident during a meeting in the Ohio community on June 25 [see “NTSB to return to East Palestine …,” News Wire, Feb. 7, 2024].
