A breakdown in communication preceded the controversial decision to vent and burn toxic vinyl chloride after the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the National Transportation Safety Board found in a final report released Friday.
The company that manufactured the hazardous chemical aboard the Norfolk Southern freight train didn’t see the venting as necessary, but nobody relayed that expert opinion to the incident commander, NTSB wrote. That lapse deprived the commander of “a fully informed decision” on an action that worsened East Palestine residents’ fears for their health and safety, the agency said.
The report added that there is “no explanation or argument for Norfolk Southern Railway and its contractors’ continued advocacy for the vent and burn procedure [that] justifies failing to communicate relevant expertise and dissenting opinions to the incident commander.”
The report’s criticisms echo those that NTSB investigators made during a hearing last month in East Palestine. But it offers a more granular description of the communications leading up to the release of the hazardous chemicals and a detailed look at the manuevering that went on behind the scenes.
