The National Transportation Safety Board launched 1000’s of pages of paperwork on Thursday concerning the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight prepare in East Palestine, Ohio, offering the fullest account but of what led to the accident.
The company launched the trove of paperwork forward of a two-day listening to in East Palestine, which started on Thursday morning and is about to look at a number of elements of the derailment and the emergency response that adopted, together with the choice to conduct a managed burn of some poisonous chemical compounds the prepare was carrying.
The N.T.S.B. held a group assembly on Wednesday evening to discipline questions from residents, and the company’s chairwoman, Jennifer Homendy, opened the listening to on Thursday morning with a message for these affected by the derailment.
“Just know that all of us think about you, not just during this hearing, not just during the investigation, but well after our final board report is issued,” she mentioned.
The N.T.S.B. had beforehand mentioned {that a} wheel bearing on one of many rail vehicles had overheated because the 149-car prepare handed by means of Ohio on Feb. 3. The paperwork launched on Thursday provided a extra detailed image of what occurred within the moments earlier than the prepare left the tracks and the way officers responded to the derailment and the hearth that ensued.
According to the paperwork, part of the rail automobile’s wheel set got here off, resulting in the derailment. The wheel bearing that overheated was discovered simply over 100 toes away from the purpose of derailment mendacity in a small, wooded space, and that it had “extensive thermal damage.”
Ultimately, 38 vehicles ended up derailing, together with 11 that contained hazardous supplies, in keeping with the protection board.
In the aftermath of the accident and the managed burn, officers mentioned that they had not detected harmful ranges of chemical compounds within the air or the municipal water system. But some folks skilled signs like rashes and complications, leaving residents to fret about potential long-term well being dangers stemming from the discharge of poisonous chemical compounds.
The Justice Department sued Norfolk Southern in March over the derailment, and the N.T.S.B. opened a particular investigation into security practices on the firm. The derailment has additionally prompted a bipartisan effort in Congress to cross new rail security laws. At a Senate listening to in March, Norfolk Southern’s chief government, Alan H. Shaw, advised lawmakers that he was “deeply sorry” for the consequences of the derailment.
Daniel McGraw contributed reporting from East Palestine, Ohio.
Source: www.nytimes.com