Bungled Messaging Over Ohio Train Crash Causes Chaos
- Norfolk Southern, officials have struggled to talk about crash
- Rail company may face $100 million in expenses over incident
The site of a derailed freight train in East Palestine, Ohio.
Source: NTSB/Getty Images
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Gary Stevenson, the mayor of Paulsboro, New Jersey, is still troubled by the disastrous messaging that surrounded a dangerous train derailment in his town more than a decade ago. The communications meltdown now troubling Norfolk Southern Corp. is worse.
Just like East Palestine, Ohio, which is coming to terms with the aftermath of a Feb. 3 derailment, Paulsboro was the site of a train that veered off the tracks. Both locomotives were hauling toxic vinyl chloride and each unleashed the chemicals over small towns. Residents of those places were then left equally confused by mixed messages and unanswered questions.