PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The EPA on Tuesday announced it will use federal authority to compel railroad operator Norfolk Southern to cover all costs associated with the clean-up and remediation of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, near the border of Pennsylvania.
Gov. Josh Shapiro blasted Norfolk Southern for its handling of the derailment. Shapiro said first responders at the site were able to do their jobs, but the actions of Norfolk Southern made it more difficult than it needed to be.
“They chose not to participate in the unified command. They gave us inaccurate information and conflicting modeling data. And they refused to explore or articulate alternative courses of action when we were dealing with the derailment in the early days,” the governor said.
Shapiro didn’t pull punches when asked if he thought it necessary to force the company to cover all costs.
“It is my view that Norfolk Southern wasn't going to do this out of the goodness of their own heart. There's not a lot of goodness in there. They needed to be compelled to act,” the governor said.
“The combination of Norfolk Southern’s corporate greed, incompetence, and lack of care for our residents is absolutely unacceptable to me.”
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Ohio Gov. Bill DeWine said that, under federal law, Norfolk Southern isn’t required to notify state and local officials when transporting potentially hazardous materials. He called that “fundamentally wrong.”
Both governors are calling on federal officials to change that policy.
“The fact that this train did not qualify and under current law, requiring the railroad company to make that notification is just absurd. It makes absolutely no sense at all,” DeWine said.
Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson says he is already in discussions to hold hearings on rail safety after the National Transportation Safety Board releases its findings on the cause of the derailment.
DeWine and Shapiro say they continue to monitor air quality and are offering water testing, but so far officials have not received any concerning readings.
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Shapiro said his administration had made a criminal referral of Norfolk Southern to the attorney general's office, while DeWine said Ohio's attorney general had also launched an investigation.
"In no way, shape or form will Norfolk Southern get off the hook for the mess they created," EPA Administrator Michael Regan vowed at a news conference in East Palestine. "I know this order cannot undue the nightmare that families in this town have been living with, but it will begin to deliver much-needed justice for the pain that Norfolk Southern has caused."
He warned that if Norfolk Southern fails to comply, the agency will perform the work itself and seek triple damages from the company.
Norfolk Southern says they recognize they have a responsibility and remain committed to “thoroughly and safely cleaning the site.” The company says they “are going to learn from this terrible accident and work with regulators and elected officials to improve railroad safety.”
EPA planned to release more details on the cleanup service for residents and businesses, which it said would "provide an additional layer of reassurance."
The agency said its order marked the end of the "emergency" phase of the Feb. 3 derailment and the beginning of long-term remediation phase in the East Palestine area.
EPA's move to compel Norfolk Southern to clean up came nearly three weeks after more than three dozen freight cars — including 11 carrying hazardous materials — derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line, prompting an evacuation as fears grew about a potential explosion of smoldering wreckage.
Officials seeking to avoid the danger of an uncontrolled blast chose to intentionally release and burn toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke again billowing high into the sky. That left people questioning the potential health impacts for residents in the area and beyond, even as authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people.
Already, 4,600 yards of contaminated soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water have been removed, DeWine said. But he said Norfolk Southern had failed to address the contaminated soil underneath its tracks before repairing them and running freight again. He said the company would have to take the tracks back up and remove the soil.