Norfolk Southern’s communication lapses left first responders scrambling after a train operated by the company derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, raising the possibility of a major explosion, some lawmakers and witnesses told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday, The Washington Post’s Justine McDaniel, Ian Duncan, Amy B Wang and Scott Dance report.
Senators on the panel grilled Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw and Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator Debra Shore on the response to the crash, with Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) telling Shaw that “complacency breeds disaster.”
Democrats mostly accused Norfolk Southern of corporate greed and called for updated rail standards, while Republicans sought to use the disaster to criticize the Biden administration for not sending top officials to the site sooner.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) scolded the EPA for taking too long to communicate with the public, which, she said, allowed “armchair citizen scientists and political pundits” to spread misinformation about the derailment. The EPA did not take over disaster response or require Norfolk Southern to clean up the site until weeks after a toxic plume spread across the area.
Shaw did not commit to compensating East Palestine residents for any loss in home values as a result of the crash. He also did not endorse significant parts of a proposed rail safety bill, including a requirement that trains have at least two crew members.
"He said repeatedly that this is a down
payment,” Capito said of Shaw. “Time will tell if this down payment is complete
and whether they stop there or fulfill the entire obligation. We are going to
hold their feet to the fire and make sure that they do for the promise that
citizens around that entire area and in East Palestine are made whole and that
they can go back to life as normal and feel safe having a train going
throughout their town.”