Pete Buttigieg warns Norfolk Southern to support Ohio community

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a letter to the CEO of Norfolk Southern on Sunday, warning that the freight rail company must “demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of eastern Palestine, in Ohio, and surrounding areas after a burning train derailment. to the release of chemicals and residents expressing concerns about their health.

“Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole – and must also live up to its obligation to do whatever it takes to stop endangering communities such as Eastern Palestine,” Buttigieg wrote. “Now is a good time for Norfolk Southern to take a leadership position within the rail industry, adopting a posture that focuses on supporting, not hindering, efforts to raise the bar of U.S. rail safety regulations.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that chemicals that spilled into the Ohio River are no longer a risk, even though residents in the community say they have constant headaches and irritated eyes. The state plans to open a medical clinic in the village of 4,700 to analyze their symptoms, despite repeated claims that air and water tests showed no signs of contamination.

Yet uncertainty persists about the consequences of a derailment that occurred about two weeks ago.

Peter DeCarlo, a professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University, told ABC News on Sunday that more testing is needed to determine what chemicals are present.

“We just don’t have the information we need to understand what chemicals may be present,” DeCarlo said. “We know it started as vinyl chloride, but as soon as you burn, all bets are off. You have a lot of chemical by-products that can come from a combustion process like that.

When asked if he would return to eastern Palestine if he was already living there, DeCarlo replied, “I have two little boys. I would not like.”

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw released a statement on Saturday saying he “returned to eastern Palestine today to meet with local leaders, first responders and a group of Norfolk Southern employees who live In the region “.

“In every conversation today, I shared how deeply sorry this happened to their home,” Shaw said. The Atlanta-based company created a website with updates, NSMakingItRight.com.

The Transport Secretary’s letter on Sunday came as a stark warning to Norfolk Southern, saying: ‘It is imperative that your company is unambiguous and forthright in its commitment to caring for residents – now and in the future.’

Buttigieg said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the derailment and the Federal Railroad Administration is also analyzing whether any safety violations have occurred and will hold Norfolk Southern accountable if violations do occur.

The Environmental Protection Agency said the company must document the release of hazardous contaminants and describe cleanup actions.

But Buttigieg also said Norfolk Southern and other railroads “have spent millions of dollars in court and lobbying members of Congress to oppose common-sense safety rules, shutting down some altogether and reducing the reach of others”. He said the effort undermined rules on braking requirements and delayed the phasing in of more durable railcars for transporting hazardous materials until 2029, instead of the “originally envisaged date of 2025”.

The transport secretary said the results of the investigation are not yet known, but ‘we know that these measures that Norfolk Southern and its peers lobbied against were aimed at improving rail safety and keeping Americans safe’ .