Here's What Norfolk Southern’s CEO Has to Say About the Ohio Derailment

A Norfolk Southern Corp. train carrying plastic pellets, toxic chemicals, cotton balls and beer among other cargo derailed on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, setting off both a literal and political fire. The former has since been put out, and the smoke plume has faded from the controlled release of vinyl chloride — a colorless, carcinogenic gas that’s used to make hard plastic resin — that the railroad was forced to conduct to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion. Norfolk Southern has pledged to spend whatever is necessary to clean up the environment, and the Environmental Protection Agency has said the company is on the hook for all of the costs. Chief Executive Officer Alan Shaw first visited East Palestine on Feb. 6, and the company has committed $11.4 million to the community so far, including reimbursements to residents, a donation to the local schools and support for the fire department. But Norfolk Southern’s initial communications strategy was slow-moving, procedural and hyperlocal. Once it lost control of the narrative, others were happy to offer their own.

The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary findings on the accident last week: The trigger for the derailment was an overheated wheel bearing on the train’s 23rd car — a hopper car carrying plastic pellets — and heat sensors on the tracks failed to alert the crew in time. There’s no definitive evidence among the NTSB’s preliminary findings that suggests the accident was the result of systemic negligence or a prioritization of profits over safety, and there’s no reason at this point to think that many of the sweeping regulations that politicians have proposed in the aftermath, particularly a mandate for electronically controlled pneumatic, or ECP, brakes, would have made much of a difference. But the political finger-wagging has continued.