Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to testify before Ohio Senate in wake of train derailment

Monroe Trombly, The Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·1 min read
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Mar 9, 2023; Washington, DC, USA; Alan Shaw, Norfolk Southern Corporation President and CEO, testifies before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee during a hearing on protecting public health and the environment in the wake of the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical release in East Palestine, Ohio, Thursday, March 9, 2023 in Washington,
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Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the Ohio Senate Select Committee on Rail Safety, where he is expected to face tough questions about whether the railroad has been investing enough in safety.

State lawmakers also will likely seek to hold Shaw's feet to the fire on his repeated promises that Norfolk Southern will not leave East Palestine until the community is safe and cleaned up.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost last month filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, seeking to force the company to pay for costs incurred by the state caused by the Feb. 3 train derailment and chemical spill. The federal government has also sued the railroad giant.

One of the chemical tankers has "NTSB HOLD" sprayed on its side at the East Palesine train derailment site on Saturday, February 25, 2023. What appears to be smoke rising behind the tanker is dust from an excavator working on the site. A Feb. 3 train derailment has had toxic ramifications for the Columbiana County community. "NTSB" stands for the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates transportation accidents.

Shaw last month testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where he faced pointed questions from the panel about the company's response and whether they'll support efforts to increase rail safety in the wake of the incident.

The Ohio Senate Select Committee on Rail Safety last month heard from officials from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

Railroads are largely regulated by federal law, so the state is limited in what it can accomplish. But Senate President Matt Huffman previously said the committee could look at issues such as tort law, which deals with civil suits and the relief someone can seek for being wronged.

Haley BeMiller, a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, contributed to this report.

mtrombly@dispatch.com

@monroetrombly

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to testify before Ohio Senate