Buttigieg urges railroads to improve safety measures after Ohio crash

OMAHA, Nebraska. – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wants the nation’s freight railroads to take immediate action to improve safety as regulators try to tighten safety rules after a train derailment in Ohio forced evacuations due to the release and burning of toxic chemicals.

Buttigieg announced the reform package on Tuesday — two days after he warned Norfolk Southern, the railroad responsible for the derailment, to honor its promises to clean up the mess near East Palestine, Ohio, and help the city recover. He said the Department of Transportation will hold the railroad accountable for any safety violations that led to the Feb. 3 crash near the Pennsylvania border.

“While ensuring the safety of those affected by this accident is an immediate priority, we must also recognize that this is an important point to redouble our efforts to make this much less likely in the future,” Buttigieg said.

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Even though government data shows that the number of derailments has decreased in recent years, there were still 1,049 derailments last year.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency plans to return to the city of 4,700 on Tuesday, along with the governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania, to discuss cleanup measures and measures to keep people safe on the same day officials plan to reopen the medical clinic they employ. pollution experts. deal with residents’ complaints.

State and federal officials have confirmed that their analyzes of air and water samples in the area show no dangerous levels of any of the toxins, but some people complain of persistent headaches and eye irritation as they worry about returning to their homes.

Buttigieg said it is up to railroads and tanker owners to take action themselves to speed up their plan to upgrade tankers that carry flammable liquids like crude oil and ethanol by 2025, rather than waiting to meet the 2029 standard. which Congress eventually approved after regulators proposed an earlier deadline.

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He also said that freight railroads should quickly agree to use a confidential hotline set up by regulators that allows employees to report safety issues without fear of retribution and make agreements to give their employees paid sick days to help prevent fatigue.

He also wants railroads to stop asking for an exemption from inspection requirements every time they develop new technology to improve inspections because, he says, technology should complement, but not replace, human inspections.

Railway workers’ unions have also expressed concern that railcar inspections are rushed and preventive maintenance could be forgotten after the industry’s massive job cuts in recent years, which they say have made railroads more risky. Greg Reagan, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Occupationals coalition, said the Ohio crash should lead to reforms.

“I really think there is a moment to look in the mirror of the entire industry and decide what we can do better,” Reagan said. “I think the industry as a whole has been reluctant to make the necessary changes. Obviously they’ve fought the rules in the past, but I think they’re running out of excuses here.”

CONNECTED: What is known about the train derailment in Ohio

Buttigieg said regulators will consider whether they can reinstate the Trump administration’s proposed rule that would require upgraded electronically controlled brakes on some trains filled with flammable liquids that are designated “highly hazardous flammable trains.” The rule was dropped after Congress ordered regulators to conduct a rigorous cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the rule, and they decided that the potential benefits could not justify the costs.

Buttigieg said he would ask Congress to “free us here” over the braking rule, and regulators could consider expanding which trains are subject to the “highly hazardous” rules, which were announced in 2015 following several train derailments from burning oil. in the worst of them, in 2013, 47 people died and the Canadian city of Lac Megantic was destroyed. He also said that Congress should raise the current $225,455 railroad safety fine cap by at least a factor of ten to create a better deterrent for multibillion-dollar corporations.

Buttigieg criticized the railroads for lobbying for the braking rule and challenging it in court. But railroad safety expert David Clark, who previously headed the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Tennessee, said the industry shouldn’t be criticized too much for resisting the proposed rules when questions about their benefits come up.

CONNECTED: Erin Brockovich arrives in East Palestine, Ohio after a toxic train derailment.

“The fact that you frame them in terms of security gives the impression that it’s, you know, Mom, God and apple pie — everything that has to do with security is sacred,” Clark said. “But the bottom line is that companies need to consider the benefits and costs of any spending.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was incredulous when he learned that the derailed Norfolk Southern train did not have this designation, meaning the railroad did not have to notify the state of the hazardous chemicals it was transporting or follow detailed requirements for finding the safest chemicals. way for these chemicals.

“This is absurd,” DeWine said. “Congress needs to look at how to handle this.”

Regulators and the Association of American Railroads trade group say there are hundreds of pages of other regulations that railroads must follow when transporting any hazardous chemicals, whether it’s vinyl chloride, which received so much attention during this crash, crude oil, nuclear materials, or any of the hundreds of other hazardous chemicals that are commonly transported by rail.

CONNECTED: Ohio train crash: FEMA to send team to East Palestine 2 weeks after crash

It is not clear if the “highly dangerous” rules could have prevented this derailment. The Federal National Transportation Safety Board is in the early stages of an investigation, although that agency officials said they believe an axle failure on one of the cars shortly after the train crew was alerted to a possible mechanical problem caused it. crash.

The Federal Railroad Administration will also work to refine its proposed rule requiring crews of two in most cases, which Buttigieg called one of the Biden administration’s major efforts to improve railroad safety over the past two years.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers President Eddie Hall said he believed freight railroads’ efforts to reduce crews to one man were a clear safety hazard.

“Railroads in the United States are pretty much self-regulating, and right now, instead of learning from their mistakes and improving oversight and safety, they are moving in the opposite direction,” Hall said. “We applaud the Department of Transport’s efforts to improve rail safety.”

Norfolk Southern officials declined to respond directly to Buttigieg on Monday other than to reiterate the railroad’s commitment to safety and cleanup of the derailment. CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement reissued by the railroad on Monday that he knows the railroad will be judged by its actions, but vowed to do everything possible to help “get East Palestine on its feet as soon as possible.”

As part of this effort, the railroad said it had appointed one of its local employees, who lives in the city, as a link between East Palestine and South Norfolk. This person will oversee a $1 million budget to help the community, in addition to the $1 million the railroad has created to help residents and the $3.4 million in payments it has already given out to families.

These payments are likely just the start, as the EPA has said Norfolk Southern will be responsible for cleanup costs, and several lawsuits have already been filed against the railroad.

University of Illinois professor Christopher Barkan, who teaches a course on railroad safety and advises the industry on tanker safety standards and environmental issues, said he thinks the railroad will get its way.

“I have no doubt that Norfolk Southern will and will continue to respond until all environmental issues are resolved,” Barkan said. “I understand why people in this city are really worried right now. This is a terrible event that happened in your city.”