While Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw repeatedly apologized during a Senate committee hearing for the East Palestine rail disaster and vowed that his company would continue to help the community, a number of members were frustrated with his responses.

At the conclusion of Thursday’s three-hour U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing on the East Palestine derailment, chairman Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, said to Shaw: “I’m not a big fan of yes-no answers. That’s not usually my style, but I didn’t think we heard as many unequivocal ‘yes’-es as I might like to have. We might want to revisit that at another time. This doesn’t help to alleviate the community’s mistrust, but I’m relieved to hear the testimony regarding the safety of the air and the attentiveness of federal, state and local first responders.”

Carper said there “is quite a lot more to discuss with respect to safety for rail and hazardous materials.”

Carper and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican and the committee’s ranking minority member, said they were concerned with a lack of communication from Norfolk Southern in the days shortly after the Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials.

The derailment and a subsequent controlled explosion of five cars resulted in toxic chemicals going into the environment. Federal and state environmental officials say the air and drinking water in East Palestine are safe. Some nearby streams were contaminated and a number of people have complained about rashes, headaches and other medical ailments.

During Shaw’s testimony and when being questioned by committee members, the CEO said Norfolk Southern would stay in East Palestine for as long as it takes to clean up the area as a result of the derailment and subsequent release of toxic chemicals.

“I’m terribly sorry for the impact this derailment has had on the folks of that community,” Shaw said. “We’re going to be there for as long as it takes to help East Palestine thrive and recover.”

The company has spent more than $21 million to help more than 4,400 families, Shaw said.

“All of this is just a downpayment,” he said.

But Shaw wouldn’t answer questions from committee members about whether Norfolk Southern would compensate people for long-term medical issues.

This was the first congressional hearing on the East Palestine derailment.

As the Senate hearing was starting, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, whose district includes East Palestine, announced the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Materials — of which Johnson is chairman — would meet March 28 for a hearing on the environmental response to the derailment.

Witnesses will be announced at a later date, but Johnson said it would include U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as state and local officials.

Before Shaw testified Thursday, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance sharply criticized Norfolk Southern while speaking to the committee.

“If Norfolk Southern had paid a little more attention to safety and a little less attention to its profits — had cared a little more about the Ohioans along its tracks and a little less about its executives and shareholders– these accidents would not be as bad or might not have happened at all,” said Brown, D-Cleveland.

Brown said the railroad company “must pay for every cent of the cleanup. Every water test, every hotel room, every bottle of water, every hospital bill if an Ohioan comes down sick because of these contaminants next week, next year, for the next 10 years. We know this company can afford it.”

Brown and Vance, R-Ohio, are leading the charge on a bipartisan bill that would enhance safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials — such as the one that derailed in East Palestine — as well as require railroads to create disaster plans and tell emergency response commissions what hazardous materials are going through their states.

It also establishes requirements for wayside defect detectors, creates a permanent requirement for railroads to operate with at least two-person crews and increases fines for wrongdoing committed by rail carriers.

Shaw said: “I am determined to make this right. Norfolk Southern will clean the site safely, thoroughly and with urgency. You have my personal commitment. Norfolk Southern will get the job done and help East Palestine thrive.”

Vance said the legislation was reasonable and Norfolk Southern needs to be held responsible.

Vance said he’s heard from fellow Republicans who don’t want to approve the bill.

Regarding that opposition, Vance didn’t hold back his criticism.

“We are faced with a choice with this legislation and how we respond to this crisis,” he said. “Do we do the bidding of a massive industry that is in bed with big government or do we do the bidding of the people who elected us to the Senate and to the Congress in the first place?”

He added that Republicans “are the party of working people” and it’s time to show it. “We have a choice. Are we for big business and big government or are we for the people of East Palestine? It’s a time for choosing. Let’s make the right one.”

RAILROAD STANDARDS

Specifically asked if he supported the Brown-Vance bill, Shaw said his company is committed to “legislative intent to make rail safer.”

He wouldn’t commit to endorsing all of the provisions included in a bipartisan railway safety act.

Shaw said there are “a number of provisions we absolutely would support” in the proposed bill. That includes tighter railroad car standards and better trackside detectors.

Despite several derailments, Shaw said, “Norfolk Southern runs a safe railroad. It is my commitment to improve that safety and make our safety culture the best in the industry.”

Some members of the Senate committee expressed concern that there was a hold-up removing contaminated soil from the derailment site as well as a lack of notification from the federal EPA about previous soil from the location being hauled to their home states.

“If something like this happens again, God forbid they should also be able to trust the federal government will be quick, deliberate, transparent and clear in their response and the guilty party / parties will be held responsible,” Capito said.

But Carper repeatedly defended the federal government’s response to the disaster.