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The Nationwide Transportation Security Board on Tuesday launched a particular investigation into railroad large Norfolk Southern after a collection of latest accidents, together with the fiery derailment in rural Ohio final month and a conductor’s demise on Tuesday.
The probe will particularly look into the corporate’s “group and security tradition,” the federal investigative company stated in a information launch.
“Given the quantity and significance of latest Norfolk Southern accidents, the NTSB additionally urges the corporate to take fast motion at the moment to assessment and assess its security practices, with the enter of workers and others, and implement obligatory adjustments to enhance security,” the NTSB, which investigates transportation accidents, stated in a press release.
Norfolk Southern didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s request for remark. However CEO Alan Shaw instructed CNBC that the corporate will cooperate with the investigation.
“Shifting ahead, we’re going to rebuild our security tradition from the bottom up. We’re going to make investments extra in security,” he stated in a press release. “This isn’t who we’re, it isn’t acceptable, and it’ll not proceed.”
The corporate has come beneath growing scrutiny following the disastrous derailment of certainly one of its trains final month. The almost 2-mile prepare was passing by means of East Palestine, a city of about 5,000 folks close to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, when 38 automobiles careened off the tracks and caught hearth. Of the 50 prepare automobiles that both derailed or had been broken within the ensuing hearth, 20 contained hazardous materials. The incident has left residents terrified about short- and long-term well being and environmental results.
Norfolk Southern has continued to be the topic of damaging headlines. On Saturday, one other certainly one of its freight trains derailed close to Springfield, Ohio. It was not hauling poisonous supplies, and no accidents had been reported.
Then on Tuesday morning, a Norfolk Southern conductor was killed in Cleveland, Ohio, when he was “struck by a dump truck as a Norfolk Southern prepare was shifting by means of a crossing” at a metal facility, in keeping with an organization information launch.
Together with these incidents, NTSB stated it’s investing three different Norfolk Southern accidents: two fatalities, one in 2021 and one other in 2022, and a derailment in Sandusky, Ohio, final 12 months.
Shaw is slated to testify Thursday at a listening to of the U.S. Senate Committee on Setting and Public Works. The listening to will concentrate on the derailment in East Palestine and embrace testimony from officers at each the U.S. Environmental Safety Company and the Ohio EPA.
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