WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will ask Congress to increase the maximum fine for railroad safety violations, Buttigieg said Sunday in a letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw.
In another development stemming from the Feb. 3 derailment and fire of a NS train in East Palestine, Ohio, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee began an inquiry on rail practices in handling hazardous materials by asking CEOs of the seven Class I railroads for detailed information on safety practices.
The Washington Post reports Buttigieg’s letter says the Biden Administration will propose other rail safety measures in addition to addressing fines, which currently have a maximum of $225,455.
The Associated Press reports the letter calls on Norfolk Southern “to take a leadership position within the rail industry, shifting to a posture that focuses on supporting, not thwarting, efforts to raise the standard of U.S. rail safety regulation.”
The Post reported NS said it was reviewing the letter, and noted industry group the Association of American Railroads has said any discussion of regulatory changes is premature while the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the derailment.
On Friday, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Commerce Committee, sent letters to the seven Class I CEOs asking them to respond by March 17 to a series of 14 questions regarding railcar inspections, trackside defect detectors, response to hazardous-material incidents, and train characteristics including train length and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes.
“The Committee is requesting information to help determine how to improve safety,” the letter says in part, according to a press release from the committee. “Over the past five years, the Class I railroads have cut their workforce by nearly one third, shuttered railyards where railcars are traditionally inspected, and are running longer and heavier trains. While some of these changes may be an improvement, they also come with new risks that current federal regulations may not consider. … Every railroad must reexamine its hazardous materials safety practices to better protect its employees, the environment, and American families and reaffirm safety as a top priority.”
The press release includes the full letter to NS CEO Shaw, as well as a link to the letters to all seven CEOs.
Just remember, increased regulatory cost is always paid by the customer. Additionally, putting these chemicals on highways will make the risk greater, not lesser. We live a chemical world and that will NOT change. I do not think rail CEO’s desire untoward events like this. Point a finger at the carrier if you want, just remember the nation demands the products derived from these chemicals. So we should also point the finger at ourselves.
Again we see the fools in DC doing a CYA over something they have no knowledge of or understanding as to how a railroad works. There is a ” Fine ” already inplace over this derailment , how much nobody knows at this point. It’s the cost of all repairs , cleanup, civil suits, etc. and guess what, all paid by NS.
And all these expert Congress folks will be clueless to any response from the rail industry. SO, what sort of answer do they expect on electronic bakes? There were none. A journal over heated and caught fire. No one can see that in an inspection unless it’s a roll by and the journal is already smoking. Maybe we should demand a lot of answers from Congress by a certain date or you will be removed from office
There is a video on YT showing a guy saying he thinks the detector was faulty. He showed a NS coal drag stopping outside Salem with a similar warning. That still doesn’t explain why the engineer at the front didn’t hear the warning on his radio. The author of the video said he picked up the radio alert just fine, but he was about 10m from the box.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RNe3QW3aHI
I contend that if the alert was picked up near the end of a long consist and the engineer is “over a hill” 2 miles down the way he might not pick up the radio signal at all.
Resign Pete.
Way to go, Mayor Pete. You’ve certainly got your boot on NS’s neck. BTW, what did they “thwart?”
If, and it’s a big if, NTSB determines the cause of the derailment was a broken axle on a privately owned car, there will be partial fault finding and consequences for the private car owner and car builder.
I call for increased fines for a cabinet secretary who has either been on paternity leave or asleep for his entire tenure.
It will be interesting to see if any safety violations actually occurred during East Palestine. Is this the way Pete Buttigieg comes out of his slumber on this whole incident? Hmm…….