Ohio train derailment: NTSB chairwoman pleads to stop ‘misinformation’ about crash
Misty Severi
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The head of the National Transportation Safety Board shared an earnest plea with the public about sharing misinformation about the Ohio train derailment.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told the public in a series of tweets on Thursday that the board was doing everything in its power to figure out what went wrong in East Palestine, Ohio, and how to avoid any future derailments.
Homendy highlighted an argument about the type of brakes the train supposedly would have had if the Department of Transportation wouldn’t have withdrawn a rule under then-President Donald Trump. Current Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has pointed to that rule, saying it has constrained him and his department.
However, Homendy pointed out that regardless of whether the rule was in effect or not, the train traveling through East Palestine that derailed on Feb. 3 wouldn’t have had the brakes.
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“To everyone affected: know that @NTSB is working vigorously to understand what caused this train derailment — so it never happens again,” Homendy tweeted. “You have my personal commitment that the NTSB will CONTINUE to share all information publicly as soon as possible following our analysis.”
https://twitter.com/JenniferHomendy/status/1626379353402617856
“Next: NTSB investigators will thoroughly examine the tank cars once decontaminated. As always, we’ll issue urgent safety recommendations as needed,” Homendy continued. “Urgent safety recommendations may be issued at any time; meaning, we don’t wait until the end of our investigation if immediate safety action is warranted.”
Homendy added that credibility and accuracy are crucial to the NTSB’s investigation and claimed that telling the community what could or should have happened is only “misleading a suffering community.”
Homendy said the implementation of electronically controlled pneumatic brakes would not have derailed the train, as some have alleged, because it was a different kind of train than the ECP brakes are for.
“The ECP braking rule would’ve applied ONLY to HIGH HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAINS. The train that derailed in East Palestine was a MIXED FREIGHT TRAIN containing only 3 placarded Class 3 flammable liquids cars,” Homendy tweeted. “This means even if the rule had gone into effect, this train wouldn’t have had ECP brakes. Anything else is harmful — and adding pain to a community that’s been through enough.”
Buttigieg has attempted to shift the blame for the disaster onto Trump and his administration, a tactic Republicans aren’t tolerating.
https://twitter.com/SecretaryPete/status/1625628605861462016?s=20
“The Department of Transportation, your Department of Transportation, has things it can do. Stop blaming Donald Trump, a guy who hasn’t been president for three years, and use the powers of the federal government to do the things necessary to help people in this community,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) said during a visit to East Palestine on Thursday.
The tweets come a couple of days after the NTSB released an update on the derailment, claiming it believed it found the railcar that initiated the accident. Approximately 38 train cars derailed in the small town of East Palestine, including some cars that carried toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride.
“Surveillance video from a residence showed what appears to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment,” the NTSB said in an update on Tuesday. “The wheelset from the suspected railcar has been collected as evidence for metallurgical examination. The suspected overheated wheel bearing has been collected and will be examined by engineers from the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, D.C.”
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Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) has come under heat for the mess in East Palestine. However, experts from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency are in the town to monitor the air quality and the water to ensure it’s safe to drink. DeWine clarified on Friday that the water from the town is safe to drink after tests came back clear — but that private pumps would still need to be tested.