by Mike Lee at Politico
Freight giant Norfolk Southern withheld information from local fire officials as they scrambled to respond to last year’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, federal investigators said Tuesday — saying the lack of disclosure “compromised the integrity” of the controversial decision to burn off toxic vinyl chloride from the tank cars.
The train derailed the evening of Feb. 3, 2023, sparking a fire that burned for days. Norfolk Southern’s contractors were concerned that five carloads of vinyl chloride were at risk of exploding. To avoid that fate, the contractors told the local fire chief that they needed to “vent and burn” the cars’ contents — a decision that sent a toxic plume of black smoke soaring over the community.
Footage of the billowing plume dominated television coverage and social media commentary about the wreck, and provoked continuing worries among East Palestine residents about the derailment’s long-term health impacts.