Norfolk Southern Corp.’s leader said the railroad will begin tearing up tracks in East Palestine, Ohio, on March 1 and removing contaminated soil as pressure grows to stem the fallout from a derailment that spilled toxic chemicals across the rural town.
There are two sets of tracks running through the area and the company will work on one set at a time while continuing to operate trains at reduced speed, Chief Executive Officer Alan Shaw said Monday in an interview. Norfolk Southern hasn’t stopped hauling chemicals through town, he said.
The Feb. 3 crash has upended the lives of the 4,800 residents of the town located about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, with many locals concerned the air and water is unsafe. The situation has drawn nationwide attention, putting pressure on the company and the Biden administration to address the environmental impact.
Norfolk Southern has collected 1.3 million gallons of contaminated water and 4,900 cubic yards of soil, he said. The company is working with the US Environmental Protection Agency, which had temporarily halted shipments of the hazardous waste, to dispose of the contaminated water and soil.
“I’m confident that ultimately the data and the science will prevail and we’ll get a comprehensive plan with the EPA to fully remediate the village of East Palestine,” Shaw said.
The cleanup effort is drawing pushback from some residents, who say a speedy timeline will destroy evidence of Norfolk Southern’s potential liability. Lawyers representing locals have asked a federal judge for more time to examine the 11 chemical cars that derailed. The company has said it plans to remove the railcars by March 1 and would only make them available for inspection during two days, according to the lawyers.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Feb. 23 the hazardous material tank cars have been decontaminated and its investigators examine each car to document damage and secure evidence for laboratory analysis.
Financial Commitments
The company so far has reimbursed residents and made financial commitments totaling $11.4 million, Shaw said. He reiterated his pledge to fix the damage and help the town over the long term. That includes $300,000 donated to the high school, middle school and elementary school sports programs to make up for cancellations because opposing teams don’t want to come to the town.
“We’re sitting down with community leaders on a long-term investment plan,” he said.
He said it was too early to discuss the total cost of the accident or the timeline for the environmental cleanup. The company’s main line from Chicago to the East Coast runs through East Palestine.
“Right now my focal point is on the environmental remediation, on helping the community recover, helping the community thrive and on safety,” he said. “We’ll have an opportunity to talk in the future about the financial impact of this.”
Since the derailment, Norfolk Southern’s shares had fallen nearly 10% through the close of trading last week, worse than the S&P 500 Index’s decline. The company’s stock rose less than 1% at 12:22 p.m. Monday in New York.
Shaw called for an industrywide discussion on improving safety that includes railroads, shippers, railcar manufacturers and railcar leasing companies. Norfolk Southern doesn’t own plastic pellet cars, Shaw said, which was the type of railcar that had a wheel bearing failure and likely caused the derailment.
The NTSB’s preliminary report last week said the train was running below posted speeds when the accident occurred. A wayside heat detector had sent an alarm to the crew on the overheated wheel, the investigation found, but there was not enough time to react before the derailment.
Railroad union leaders have pointed to large job cuts over the last five years as a safety risk. Norfolk Southern had reduced its non-executive employees by 28% to 16,095 at the end of last year from 22,462 at the end of 2017.
Shaw said he has “seen no evidence” that headcount reductions have impeded safety.
