Click here or the image above to watch Ranking Member Capito’s opening remarks from the committee hearing.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works(EPW) Committee held a hearing titled, “Protecting Public Health and the Environmentin the Wake of the Norfolk Southern Train Derailment and Chemical Release inEast Palestine, Ohio.”

Below is the openingstatement of Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) as delivered.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank allof you for being here today. I’m really pleased we have the hearing and we haveour fellow senators with us as well.

“As you said, we’re going to discussthe ongoing environmental response to a large-scale chemical spill resultingfrom a Norfolk-Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which is 14miles north of the West Virginia border.

“Before we go any further, I wouldlike to take the opportunity to thank the emergency responders who were on thescene less than an hour after the incident was reported and are continuing towork diligently on cleanup efforts. Thank you all so much.

“These kinds of accidents are some ofthe toughest days for them because these men and women, these are their neighbors.In some cases their relatives, and certainly their hometown friends.

“It weighs on all of us here, thiscatastrophe upended the lives of thousands of our constituents in statesrepresented today.

“The residents of East Palestine, andother impacted communities, including those in West Virginia, deserve thechance to hear publicly from those involved in, and affected by, the cleanupefforts.

“They need to know what progress hasbeen made, the challenges that lay ahead, and what lessons can be learned toimprove future responses.

“From day one, responders across alllevels of government, as well as the private sector, have workedaround-the-clock on monitoring and mitigation to keep the public andenvironment safe.

“I appreciate EPA and other relevantorganizations for providing regular updates to Congress on the status of theresponse.

“However, I want to convey to all ofyou that the public deserved a better level of transparency, and much, muchsooner.

“A month after the accident, it’sclear to me that EPA’s risk communication strategy fell short.

“In the immediate aftermath of theincident, impacted communities were clamoring for answers.

“While we are well aware thatmonitoring efforts and response planning need to be sound, we need to understandwhy it took so long for the EPA to get accurate data to the public.

“This is especially true whenorganizations like the Ohio EPA and the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission(ORSANCO), both represented on our panel today, managed to provide data andsafety information to the public quicker.

“That even includes, they weredistributing EPA data faster than the agency itself was willing to, not onlywith the public but also during briefings and conversations with the affectedcongressional offices.

“In the absence of adequatetransparency to the public, that just opens up a gap for social media, armchaircitizen scientists, and political pundits on both sides to fuel falsenarratives that have further undermined public confidence in the response tothe derailment.

“With each week’s passing, theconfusion seemed to grow.

“Even after weeks of repeated air,soil, and water monitoring have shown levels of the implicated contaminants ofmagnitude well below the ATSDR and EPA’s levels of concern in the air andwater, the initial delays in messaging and response has meant that theresidents still do not trust these results enough to feel safe.

“And trust is essential in thesesituations.

“That has been made worse by a lot ofthe misinformation that we’ve seen.

“You can’t address fear and mistrustby pointing residents to an EPA website filled with fact sheets and pressreleases.

“Risk communication needs to be donein a clear but compassionate, relatable manner right down there where it’shappening.

“So, why did it take weeks for theEPA administrator to drink the water he repeatedly told East Palestineresidents was safe?

“Why did it take almost a month toestablish a response center and go door-to-door to [address] East Palestinefamilies’ concerns?

“As a result of early missteps, Ibelieve that we need to keep moving forward here.

“This Committee must get to thebottom of whether EPA even has some of the authorities for some of the actionsthat its taken on the removal and whether they are serving the best interestsof our constituents.

“How will EPA approving everyshovelful of dirt that is moved benefit safety or expedite the process?

“These are the questions I’m going tohave.

“How and why is EPA prohibiting contaminatedsoil and water from leaving the state of Ohio into qualified destructionfacilities, how is that going to improve outcomes?

“I am concerned that at least one ofthe Ohio facilities EPA is now activating for this purpose has a history ofClean Air Act violations and may not be able to sufficiently destroycontaminated soils in way that assures communities may not be further impactedby emissions resulting from incomplete incineration.

“The EPA has been slow to respond toour office’s inquiries on the use of PFAS-based firefighting foams in combatingthe fire, nor explaining how residues from those foams may be responsible forsome of the purported pollution that has made the rounds.

“The EPA could have also madeabundantly clear that Norfolk-Southern would be completely liable and that noexpense would be spared in the cleanup efforts that’s required by the law.

“Instead it took weeks for theaverage American not well-versed in the nuances of CERCLA, which is the actthat covers this, to receive that assurance.

“Mr. Shaw, from Norfolk-Southern,will be on our panel, and I look forward to hearing from you on whatNorfolk-Southern is doing to make things right.

“But as you know and as you stated inyour statement, your company will pay for the harm it has caused. And ispaying.

“It will pay for the initial cleanupand likely pay again when the lawsuits from the myriad harms caused begin tocome in, though how much will be a matter for the courts.

“Your culpability in this incidentand the liabilities that will result are clearly defined in the statute knownas CERCLA.

“And the liabilities forNorfolk-Southern under CERCLA are among the broadest and strictest in anyfederal law.

“Before Congress considers anychanges to existing laws, we must better understand what has gone wrong withthis response so far and what can be done better in the future, but also whatwent right.

“So, to the residents of EastPalestine and surrounding communities: your Congress hears you.

“Every American deserves to feel safein their home and confident that the water they drink and the air they breatheis safe.

“When something like this happens Godforbid, they should also be able to trust that the federal government will bequick, deliberate, transparent, and clear in their response, and that guiltyparties will be held responsible.

“I believe the environmental laws onthe book are up to the task, so what has gone wrong and what has gone right?That’s what we’re here to talk about today.

“Thank you.”

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