They lifted the shelter-in-place order at 2:15 a.m., about 10 hours after it was issued for residents within 1,000 feet of the crash site. More than 1,500 residents in the county were without power in the hours following the derailment.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation, Norfolk Southern spokesman Kraig Barner said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. No members of the two crews or members of the public were injured, Barner said.
Two tankers were carrying residual amounts of diesel exhaust fluid, the county said, and two others had residual amounts of polyacrylamide solution in water. The county called those materials “common industrial products shipped by rail” and noted that the area does not include a protected water source, “meaning there is no risk to public water systems.” or private wells these days.”
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency plans to oversee the cleanup on Sunday.
Governor Mike DeWine (R) SAYS in a post on Twitter called by President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to offer the help of the federal government. Buttigieg Tweet that the derailment will be closely monitored
The incident occurred on the heels of the February 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train on the opposite side of the state that caused an explosion in East Palestine, sending dark plumes into the sky, covering the area of a chemical smell and raises concerns about. pollution. Some of those derailed cars contained vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, and the 1,000-foot area around the tracks was “heavily contaminated.”
The derailment in East Palestine led officials to declare a shelter-in-place order outside the crash site before evacuating half of the city’s residents. Then, a “drastic” temperature change in one of the cars on February 5 brought DeWine to be warned of the potential for a “catastrophic” explosion that could send shrapnel flying up to a mile away. After ordering more evacuations, authorities decided to try to mitigate that risk with a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride, which released large amounts of toxic fumes.
The residents have returned home. The Environmental Protection Agency says air monitoring has not picked up dangerous levels of the chemicals, but some people continue to worry about whether they are safe.
Norfolk Southern, the fourth largest railroad in the United States, has since faced scrutiny over the derailment and its response. The company took eight days to release the list of toxic contents of the train cars.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), whose state is about a quarter-mile from the East Palestine derailment site, said in a letter to CEO Alan Shaw that Norfolk Southern failed to promptly notify authorities about the number of cars that were derailed. contains dangerous chemicals. . He said the railroad company also provided inaccurate information about the effects of, and did not explore options beyond, the controlled release.
Shaw is scheduled to testify in Congress on Thursday about the derailment in East Palestine and measures to prevent similar accidents.
Some lawmakers have already proposed new regulations.
Legislation introduced by Ohio’s U.S. senators, Sherrod Brown (D) and JD Vance (R), would tighten safety rules for railroads, including mandating that railroad carriers notify emergency response commission regarding which hazardous materials are traveling through their states. Biden praised the bill, saying it would “make significant progress.”
Brown said in a statement that Saturday’s derailment in Springfield shows the need for legislation.
“Ohio communities should not be forced to live in fear of another disaster,” Brown said.
Senator Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.) also called for passage of the bill. Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, he cited a 2015 derailment in Mount Carbon, W.Va., and said action was needed.
“It’s time we got serious about this,” Manchin said. “We’re moving more, more products, more products on the rails and on our roads than ever before.”
Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio), whose district includes the site of Saturday’s derailment, called it “terrible” during a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said that although “it looks like we missed a bullet on this one,” the risk for Ohio residents is unacceptable.
“The fact that we have derailment after derailment shows the real lack of investment, the disinvestment, in our infrastructure, and that needs to change,” Turner said.