A freight train derailed Tuesday in central Nebraska, with more than 30 cars loaded with coal going off the tracks. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
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Washington — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a letter Sunday to the CEO of Norfolk Southern, warning that the freight rail company must “demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of East Palestine, Ohio, and surrounding areas after a fiery train derailment led to the release of chemicals and residents expressing concerns about their health.
“Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole — and must also live up to its obligation to do whatever it takes to stop putting communities such as East Palestine at risk,” Buttigieg wrote. “This is the right time for Norfolk Southern to take a leadership position within the rail industry, shifting to a posture that focuses on supporting, not thwarting, efforts to raise the standard of U.S. rail safety regulation.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that the chemicals that spilled into the Ohio River are no longer a risk, even as people in the community say they have constant headaches and irritated eyes. The state plans to open a medical clinic in the village of 4,700 to analyze their symptoms, despite repeated statements that air and water testing has shown no signs of contaminants.
People wait in line at the Norfolk Southern Assistance Center to collect a $1000 check and get reimbursed for expenses on Feb. 17, 2023, in East Palestine, Ohio.
Michael Swensen / Getty Images
Still, uncertainty persists about the consequences of a derailment that occurred roughly two weeks ago.
Peter DeCarlo, a professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University, told ABC News on Sunday that more testing is needed to determine which chemicals are present.
“We just don’t have the information we need to understand what chemicals may be present,” DeCarlo said. “We know it started as vinyl chloride, but as soon as you burn that all bets are off. You have a lot of chemical byproducts that can happen from a combustion process like that.”
Asked if he would move back to East Palestine if he were already living there, DeCarlo said: “I have two little boys. I would not.”
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw issued a statement on Saturday that he “returned to East Palestine today to meet with local leaders, first responders, and a group of Norfolk Southern employees who live in the area.”
“In every conversation today, I shared how deeply sorry I am this happened to their home,” Shaw said. The Atlanta-based company has created a website with updates, NSMakingItRight.com.
The transportation secretary’s letter on Sunday came across as a stern warning to Norfolk Southern, saying: “It is imperative that your company be unambiguous and forthright in its commitment to take care of the residents — now and in the future.”
Buttigieg said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the derailment and that the Federal Railroad Administration is also analyzing whether safety violations occurred and will hold Norfolk Southern accountable if violations did occur.
The Environmental Protection Agency has said the company must document the release of hazardous contaminants and outline cleanup actions.
But Buttigieg also said that Norfolk Southern and other rail companies “spent millions of dollars in the courts and lobbying members of Congress to oppose common-sense safety regulations, stopping some entirely and reducing the scope of others.” He said the effort undermined rules on brake requirements and delayed the phase-in for more durable rail cars to transport hazardous material to 2029, instead of the “originally envisioned date of 2025.”
The transportation secretary said the results of the investigation are not yet know, but “we do know that these steps that Norfolk Southern and its peers lobbied against were intended to improve rail safety and to help keep Americans safe.”
Residents in East Palestine, Ohio, are fuming over the slow federal response to a train derailment that released toxic chemicals. FEMA officials arrived at the site Saturday. Norfolk Southern, the rail company behind the accident, is also facing growing scrutiny after yet another train derailed in Detroit this past week. Michael George reports.
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The Biden administration on Friday defended its response to a freight train derailment in Ohio that left toxic chemicals spilled or burned off, even as local leaders and members of Congress demanded that more be done.
The administration said it has “mobilized a robust, multi-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio,” since the Feb. 3 derailment. Michael Regan, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, visited the site Thursday, walking along a creek that still reeks of chemicals as he sought to reassure skeptical residents that the water is fit for drinking and the air safe to breathe.
No other Cabinet member has visited the rural village, where about 5,000 people live near the Pennsylvania line. But administration officials insisted that their response has been immediate and effective.
Within hours of the Norfolk Southern train derailment, the EPA deployed a team to East Palestine to support state and local emergency and environmental response efforts, the White House said. Officials from the Transportation Department also arrived to investigate what led to the derailment, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been coordinating with the state emergency operations center and other partners, the White House said.
President Joe Biden has offered federal assistance to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, officials said.
In response to a request from DeWine and Ohio’s congressional delegation, the Health and Human Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are sending a team of medical personnel and toxicologists to conduct public health testing and assessments.
The team will support federal, state and local officials already on the ground to evaluate people who were exposed or potentially exposed to chemicals, officials said.
Senior administration officials vowed to hold Norfolk Southern accountable. The company will be required to pay for cleanup of the spill and related fire under the federal Superfund law for cleanup of toxic sites, a senior administration official said.
But the White House insisted that officials on a call with the media not be identified.
Since the derailment, residents have complained about headaches and irritated eyes and finding their cars and lawns covered in soot. The hazardous chemicals that spilled from the train killed thousands of fish, and residents have talked about finding dying or sick pets and wildlife.
Residents also are frustrated by what they say is incomplete and vague information about the lasting effects from the disaster, which prompted evacuations.
Regan said Thursday that anyone who is fearful of being in their home should seek testing from the government.
“People have been unnerved,” he said. “They’ve been asked to leave their homes.” He said that if he lived there, he would be willing to move his family back into the area as long as the testing shows it’s safe.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he was glad that Regan visited the site, but it was “unacceptable that it took nearly two weeks for a senior administration official to show up” in Ohio.
He urged Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other officials to provide a complete picture of the damage done and “a comprehensive plan to ensure the community is supported in the weeks, months and years to come..’
“It’s past time for those responsible to step up to the plate,” Manchin said.
Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, who toured the site with Regan on Thursday, sent a letter Friday asking EPA to provide detailed information about the federal government’s response to the derailment, including the controlled burn conducted last week and testing plans for air and water quality.
“The community must be able to trust their air, water, and soil is not a threat to their health following this train derailment,” Johnson said.
Residents in East Palestine, Ohio, are demanding to know how safe they are in their homes after hazardous chemicals were released during a train derailment and fire. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator vowed to hold the rail operator accountable. Roxana Saberi has the latest.
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Fallout from the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, continues, as EPA administrator Michael Regan touches down for a visit to the area. While the train company has provided funds for victim relief, they opted not to attend a February 15 town hall citing a “growing physical threat” to their employees. CBS News correspondent Roxana Saberi reports.
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John Dickerson reports on the deadly shooting at Michigan State University, Nikki Haley’s run for president, and the ongoing environmental concerns in Ohio after the train derailment.
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Residents near a train derailment in Ohio are complaining of sore throats and headaches after chemicals were released during the controlled burn of derailed train cars. Officials are adamant there’s no threat to human life, but Ohio’s Natural Resources Department revealed an estimated 3,500 fish were killed.
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Officials on Wednesday informed residents they could return to their homes about five days after a toxic 50-car train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border forced evacuations.
Authorities made the announcement lifting the evacuation order at a press conference Wednesday evening in East Palestine, Ohio. East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said that air and water samples determined that the evacuation area, which covered about a one-mile radius, was safe for residents.
“The evacuation order has been lifted, if you were asked to evacuate your residence due to the incident in East Palestine, you are permitted to return home. Please return in a safe and orderly manner,” Beaver County Emergency Services tweeted Wednesday.
The evacuation order has been lifted, if you were asked to evacuate your residence due to the incident in East Palestine, you are permitted to return home. Please return in a safe and orderly manner.
On Feb. 3. about 50 cars derailed in East Palestine as a train was carrying a variety of freight from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said. No injuries were reported.
On Feb. 4, officials issued evacuation orders to hundreds of nearby residents due to the release of toxic chemicals from five of the derailed tanker cars. On Feb. 5, authorities warned residents who had declined to evacuate to do so because of the danger of a potential explosion.
Crews slowly released vinyl chloride from the five rail cars into a trough that was then ignited, creating a large plume above the village of East Palestine. Authorities had been closely monitoring the air quality in the evacuation area.
Environmental Protection Agency official James Justice told reporters Tuesday night that EPA investigators had so far been seeing “very few detections,” of dangerous chemical fumes.
“And the detections we have been seeing for the chemicals we’re monitoring for have been very low,” Justice said.
National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration are investigating the incident.
During Wednesday’s news conference, Evan Lambert, a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for NewsNation, was arrested while doing a live shot in the back of the room. Lambert was pushed to the ground, cuffed and then arrested, video showed.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine commented on the incident during the news conference, saying Lambert had the right to do his job.
“That person had a right to be reporting,” DeWine told reporters. “They should have been allowed to report if they were in any way hampered from reporting that that certainly is is is wrong and it’s not anything that I approve, in fact I vehemently disapprove of it.”
According to a statement from News Nation Bureau Chief Mike Viqueira, Lambert was being held in Columbiana County Jail and has been charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct.
“First, Evan is safe and calm, and continues to act with professionalism and integrity that he brings to his work everyday,”Viqueira said. “As you see from the videos, he was doing his job — what hundreds of journalist do without incident — reporting to the public on a matter of urgent, critical interest to our audience.”
The area around a toxic train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border is still not safe for residents to return home. Frustration is growing from residents who say there’s a lack of communication. Roxana Saberi has the latest.
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Residents from the Ohio village of East Palestine — close to where a train derailed on Friday — say they’re nervous about returning home, even after an emergency evacuation order is lifted. Some even said they may never return.
Jami Cozza told CBS News that she was worried that her family won’t be able to live in East Palestine anymore for their own safety.
“I think I owe that to my daughter,” she said. “No matter how much I want to stay.”
For residents of East Palestine that do want to return, they were still waiting for the all-clear from officials, as contractors continued to release toxic chemicals from the crash site on Tuesday.
In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, officials said they don’t know when residents will be able to return to their homes.
“I want nothing more than to get my residents back home,” East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said.
A black plume and fireball rise over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed trains.
Gene J. Puskar via AP
Evacuation orders were issued Sunday ahead of a possible explosion where a train of about 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Officials urged those in neighboring Beaver County, Pennsylvania, to stay indoors as a precaution. Officials in neighboring counties said air samples did not show any worrisome levels of contaminates.
Contractors are continuing environmental remediation efforts, officials said. As of this afternoon, several cars have been cleared from the wreckage, and teams are continuing to clear the site. Four of the cars have been cleared, and they were working to get the fifth car clear, said Scott Deutsch of Norfolk Southern at the press conference. Then, those cars will be inspected by the National Transportation Safety Board before being cut up and removed.
Federal investigators said a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the derailment.
Roxana Saberi contributed to this report.
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Authorities in East Palestine, Ohio, successfully conducted a controlled release of toxic chemicals in several derailed train cars. Roxanna Saberi reports.
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Crews began releasing toxic chemicals into the air from five derailed tanker cars that were in danger of exploding Monday, after officials warned residents near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line to leave immediately or face the possibility of death.
Flames and black smoke billowed high into the sky from the derailment site late in the afternoon, about an hour after authorities said the controlled release would begin. The Ohio Emergency Management Agency confirmed the release was underway.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine earlier ordered evacuations in the area of the derailment that has been smoldering since Friday night. Authorities believe most, if not all, residents in the danger zone have left but they were knocking on doors one more time before releasing the vinyl chloride inside the cars, he said.
“You need to leave, you just need to leave. This is a matter of life and death,” DeWine said on Sunday.
Following the start of the controlled release, DeWine said that the incident was still an “ongoing event” and that the evacuation order was not expected to be lifted Monday night. He said that residents followed the evacuation order no arrests were made.
Officials said during a press conference that in order for crews to safely return to the evacuation area to begin cleaning it up, the metal needs to cool down. Once that happens, crews will start the “wrecking” process, in which the cars are moved off the tracks and relocated to a safe area where they’ll be looked at by National Transportation Safety Board officials.
Officials said that although it was the last option, the detonation went “perfect.”
A black plume and fireball rise over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk and Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar / AP
At a separate press conference, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said that following the controlled vent and burn, no concerning air or water quality readings had been detected as of Monday night.
Shapiro thanked residents for heeding evacuation orders.
“I want to thank the good people of Pennsylvania for listening to the important information coming from our first responders, law enforcement and our environmental protection agencies,” Shapiro said.
He said that, out of an abundance of caution, residents who live within two miles of the derailment should continue to shelter in place and keep their windows and doors closed.
Officials warned the controlled burn would send phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the air. Phosgene is a highly toxic gas that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble and was used as a weapon in World War I.
Scott Deutsch of Norfolk Southern Railway said doing this during the daytime would allow the fumes to disperse more quickly and prevent the rail cars from exploding and sending shrapnel and other debris from flying through the neighborhood.
“We can’t control where that goes,” said Deutsch, who estimated the release would take from one to three hours.
The process involves using a small charge to blow a hole in the cars, allowing the material to go into a trench and burning it off before it’s released in the air, he said. The crews handling the controlled release have done this safely before, Deutsch said.
The site is very close to the state line, and the evacuation area extends into a sparsely populated area of Pennsylvania. About half of the 4,800 residents in East Palestine had been warned to leave over the weekend before officials decided on Monday to use the controlled release.
A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of the controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk and Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023.
Gene J. Puskar / AP
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the evacuation zone includes about 20 Pennsylvania residences. Pennsylvania State Police went door-to-door to assist the last remaining residents and ensure they leave.
“This is very serious,” he said. “I want you to know that if I were there right now, if the First Lady and our children were there right now, we would evacuate. We would leave this area. It is potentially too dangerous.”
Forced evacuations began Sunday night in the village of East Palestine after authorities became alarmed that the rail cars could explode after a “drastic temperature change” was observed in a rail car.
Residents were packing overnight bags, loading their pets into cars and searching for hotel rooms Monday morning. Police in the village moved out of their communication center as the threat of an explosion increased.
Police cars, snow plows and military vehicles from the Ohio National Guard blocked streets leading into the area.
About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash Friday night, according to rail operator Norfolk Southern and the National Transportation Safety Board. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.
Five were transporting vinyl chloride, which is used to make the polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin in plastic products and is associated with increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute
Federal investigators say the cause of the derailment was a mechanical issue with a rail car axle.
The three-member train crew received an alert about the mechanical defect “shortly before the derailment,” Michael Graham, a board member of the NTSB, said Sunday. Investigators identified the exact “point of derailment,” but the board was still working to determine which rail car experienced the axle issue, he said.
Mayor Trent Conaway, who declared a state of emergency in the village, said one person was arrested for going around barricades right up to the crash. He warned people to stay away and said they’d risk arrest.
“I don’t know why anybody would want to be up there; you’re breathing toxic fumes if you’re that close,” he said.
This photo taken with a drone shows, on Feb. 4, 2023, portions of a Norfolk and Southern freight train that derailed on the night of Feb. 3, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.
Gene J. Puskar / AP
Officials monitoring the smoldering, tangled wreckage of a train derailment in northeastern Ohio urgently warned hundreds of nearby residents who had declined to evacuate to do so Sunday night, saying a rail car was at risk of a potential explosion that could launch deadly shrapnel as far as a mile.
They warned of “the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure” after a “drastic temperature change” was observed in that rail car, according to a statement from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office that said teams were working to prevent an explosion at the scene in East Palestine. It didn’t specify what was in that car or whether it was among those that had been carrying hazardous materials.
Authorities urged anyone within a one-mile radius of the site to leave immediately. Many had, but local officials indicated more than 500 residents had declined to leave, the statement said.
Arrests of people staying put were possible, CBS Pittsburgh reported:
The Columbiana County Emergency Management Director told CBS Pittsburgh the condition of one of the derailed train cars carrying hazardous materials has degraded and that there’s now a much higher concern about an uncontrolled release and explosion of the car.
Early Monday morning, a small explosion was caught on video as crews continued to work to put out the burning rail cars, CBS Pittsburgh reports:
NEW: Small explosion captured by #SkyEye2 early Monday as crews continue working to put out burning rail cars in East Palestine after a train derailment Friday. Police have evacuated most of the town fearing a much larger explosion. @KDKApic.twitter.com/v1G0tbGRVg
Federal investigators had announced earlier Sunday that a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the fiery derailment near the Pennsylvania state line Friday night.
In this photo provided by Melissa Smith, a train fire is seen from her farm in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2023. A train derailment and resulting large fire prompted an evacuation order in the Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line.
(Melissa Smith via AP)
Michael Graham, a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference that the three-member train crew received an alert about the mechanical defect “shortly before the derailment” but said the board was still working to determine which rail car experienced the issue.
About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine as a train was carrying a variety of products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.
Graham said investigators identified the exact “point of derailment” but didn’t disclose the location Sunday. He said information will be included in a preliminary investigative report expected in the next month or so.
East Palestine officials said emergency responders were monitoring but keeping their distance from the fire, and that remediation efforts couldn’t begin while the cars smoldered.
Mayor Trent Conaway, who declared a state of emergency in the village, said one person was arrested for going around barricades right up to the crash during the night. He warned that more arrests would follow if people didn’t to stay away.
“I don’t know why anybody would want to be up there; you’re breathing toxic fumes if you’re that close,” he said, stressing that monitors of air quality away from the fire showed no levels of concern and the town’s water is safe because it’s fed by groundwater unaffected by some material that went into streams. Environmental protection agency crews were working to remove contaminants from streams and monitor water quality.
Sheriffs went door-to-door Sunday to count residents remaining and urge people within the evacuation area to leave. Schools and village offices will be closed at least through Monday, and businesses within the evacuation zone aren’t allowed to open Monday, officials said.
Norfolk Southern said 20 of the more than 100 cars on the train were classified as carrying hazardous materials – defined as cargo that could pose any kind of danger “including flammables, combustibles, or environmental risks.”
The NTSB said only 10 cars carrying hazardous materials derailed, and five of them were carrying vinyl chloride, not 14 as was said earlier. Officials stressed late Saturday that they hadn’t confirmed the release of vinyl chloride other than from pressure release devices operating as designed.
Vinyl chloride, used to make the polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin in a variety of plastic products, is associated with increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute.
“Short-term exposure to low levels of substances associated with the derailment does not present a long-term health risk to residents,” according to a “Frequently Asked Questions” post on the village Facebook page. “Vinyl chloride and benzene may cause cancer in people exposed in the workplace to high concentrations for many years; however, there is no indication that any potential exposure that occurred after the derailment increases the risk of cancer or any other long-term health effects in community members.”
Officials said Sunday afternoon that cars involved also carried combustible liquids, butyl acrylate and residue of benzene from previous shipments, as well as nonhazardous materials such as wheat, plastic pellets, malt liquors and lube oil.
The evacuation order covered homes of 1,500 to 2,000 of the town’s 4,800 to 4,900 residents, but officials said it was unknown exactly how many were actually affected. Most of those who had gone to an emergency shelter were no longer there by Sunday.
Norfolk Southern opened an assistance center in the village to gather information from affected residents. Village officials said 75 people went to the center Saturday and about 100 had been there Sunday morning.
A train derailment and resulting large fire prompted an evacuation order in an Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line on Friday night, covering the area in billows of smoke lit orange by the flames below.
About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine as a train was carrying a variety of freight from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said in a statement Saturday. There was no immediate information about what caused the derailment. No injuries were reported.
Local officials notified residents that an evacuation order remained in place Saturday morning for people within a mile of the scene. A high school and community center were opened to shelter dozens of people, while residents beyond that radius were urged to stay inside.
In this photo provided by Melissa Smith, a train fire is seen from her farm in East Palestine, Ohio, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. A train derailment and resulting large fire prompted an evacuation order in the Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line on Friday night, covering the area in billows of smoke lit orange by the flames below. (Melissa Smith via AP)
Melissa Smith / AP
The few dozen residents sheltering at the high school included Ann McAnlis, who said a neighbor had texted her about the crash.
“She took a picture of the glow in the sky from the front porch,” McAnlis told WFMJ-TV. “That’s when I knew how substantial this was.”
Mayor Trent Conaway told reporters that firefighters from three states responded due to the location of the derailment about 51 miles (82 kilometers) northwest of Pittsburgh and within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the tip of West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle.
Freezing temperatures in the single digits complicated the response as trucks pumping water froze, Conaway said.
Hazmat crews also responded to the scene to determine whether hazardous materials were involved, he said.
Norfolk Southern said it has personnel on-site coordinating with first responders.
The fire created so much smoke that meteorologists from the region said it was visible on weather radar.
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