Norfolk Southern sues, says other companies have liability in East Palestine derailment
Norfolk Southern last week asked a federal court in Akron to spread the cost of “making things right” in East Palestine after a train derailment there in February.
The railroad, which has taken the brunt of the criticism for the catastrophic derailment, wants the owners of the railcars that were carrying the chemicals involved, along with chemical shippers, to take responsibility for their role in the derailment and the cost of the subsequent cleanup, court records said.
Norfolk Southern on Friday filed a third-party complaint as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by the state of Ohio against the railroad in the the Northern District of Ohio. The case, being handled by Judge John R. Adams, accuses the railroad of violating numerous state and federal laws, including environmental laws, involving the derailment.
In its third-party complaint, Norfolk Southern said railways are only part of a complicated rail system.
Under U.S. law, railroads are “obligated” to transport hazardous materials, like the vinyl chloride that was part of the East Palestine derailment, the complaint said.
“The responsibility for safe transport is shared among several interested parties, including the manufacturers of the railcars and safety devices, the owners and lessees of the railcars, the manufacturers and shippers of the material being transported, and the railroad,” the complaint said.
Oxy Vinyls LP, GATX Corporation, General American Marks Company, Trinity Industries Leasing Company, SMBC Rail Services LLC, Dow Chemical Incorporated and Union Tank Car Company all have a role and responsibility in the derailment and clean-up effort, the complaint said.
The complaint follows more than 16 hours of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)hearings in East Palestine last month.
Among other things, the hearings revealed there was a disagreement over whether to vent and burn the vinyl chloride in some of the overturned cars, a process that sent a toxic cloud over East Palestine.
Norfolk Southern officials said at the time the burn and release was necessary to prevent a larger and more dangerous explosion. But officials with OxyVinyls – the maker of the vinyl chloride involved in the incident and one of the companies being sued by the railway – said at the time the vent and burn was unnecessary and that such an explosion was unlikely.
State and local officials who gave the go ahead for the vent and burn didn’t know about that disagreement at the time they decided to move forward with the vent and burn, the NTSB hearings revealed.
East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said during the hearings that information may not have changed his decision to move forward with the vent and burn, but it would have been good to know their were differing opinion about how to handle the vinyl chloride, along with the level of danger it posed.
The NTSB’s investigation into the incident is ongoing.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Norfolk Southern files suit seeking help with East Palestine cleanup
