CINCINNATI —

Video released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the intense flames firefighters faced when 38 rail cars went off a track in East Palestine, a village in northeast Ohio.

"There was incredibly hot, active fire for several hours," said hazardous materials expert Drew McCarty.

Four months after February's derailment, NTSB officials are conducting what they're calling a rare investigative field hearing.

Sworn witnesses are testifying before the public. They're describing how the derailment happened and critical takeaways from the incident.

"Lots of lessons learned," Keith Drabick said.

Drabick is the chief of East Palestine's mostly volunteer fire department. He remains concerned about conditions his fellow firefighters encountered in the wake of the train wreck — and a controlled burn that sent hazardous chemicals high into the sky.

"I'm concerned about not only my responders but everybody around for long-term health concerns," he said. "It's got to weigh in the back of your head for everybody."

To better prepare for another possible hazmat incident, Drabick said training opportunities need to be expanded.

"Standards need to change in the country. Standards need to change in our village," Drabick said.

In Cincinnati, training is a priority because the city is home to huge rail yards.

"There are a lot of people working behind the scenes, keeping our area prepared for any type of emergency that may occur," said Doug Witsken.

Witsken coordinates emergency planning for Hamilton County's Emergency Management Agency. He's among those eager to learn more from the hearing in East Palestine.

" I expect in coming years we will get a lot more detailed information about the incident, about how it was managed, lessons learned," Witsken said.

The focus of day one of the hearing in East Palestine was on the way first responders handled the derailment and how the decision to do a controlled burn was made.

The second day of the hearing on Friday will center around the Norfolk Southern rail cars that crashed and the hazardous materials they carried.

CINCINNATI —

Greater Cincinnati Water Works officials said they're continuing to monitor the water quality of the Ohio River after trace amounts of two industrial chemicals leaked into the river due to a train derailment in East Palestine.

Crews released toxic chemicals into the air last week from five derailed tanker cars that were in danger of exploding and began burning them after warning residents near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line to leave immediately or face the possibility of death.

Authorities in East Palestine had warned that burning vinyl chloride that was in five of the derailed tanker cars would send hydrogen chloride and the toxic gas phosgene into the air. They said subsequent air monitoring hasn’t detected dangerous levels inside or outside the mile-radius evacuation zone.

Though the spill happened nearly 300 miles from Cincinnati, GCWW says it is part of a network of water utilities that constantly monitor the Ohio River and its tributaries.

Officials said GCWW officials have been working, looking at how they would detect the chemical and how they'd handle the treatment process in Cincinnati.

"During the past few days, GCWW scientists have looked at the size and location of the spill and calculated the travel time of the spill’s plume to reach Cincinnati. This is an advantage of the Ohio River, as its large size helps with diluting a spill, making it easier to treat," GCWW officials said.

GCWW is also looking at how to treat the spill if the plume reaches Cincinnati.

"We know that trace amounts of this chemical can cause minor odors to the water, but through conventional treatment and the use of powdered activated carbon, we can ensure a supply of safe and healthy water remains available to our customers," GCWW said in a statement.

Clermont County Water Resources Department also issued a statement saying they are aware of the train derailment and are monitoring the situation.

"Clermont County has three treatment plants, one of which is located in the southwestern portion of the County where it draws water from the Ohio River Valley Aquifer. This is a groundwater plant and does not draw water from the Ohio River. In an abundance of caution, if the contaminate plume still has concentrations at dangerous levels when it is passing by the area where our wellfield is located, Clermont County Water Resources may temporarily cease the operation of wells nearest the Ohio River bank until it is determined that the contaminate plume has passed," officials said in a statement.

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio —

A plume of chemicals that spilled into the Ohio River after a fiery train derailment has broken up and is no longer a concern, Ohio's governor said Friday. But worries remain near the disaster site among residents who have complained about lingering headaches and irritated eyes.

Despite repeated assurances that air and water testing has shown no signs of contaminants, some around East Palestine, along the Pennsylvania state line, are still skeptical and afraid to return to their homes.

Early next week, the state plans to open a medical clinic in the village to evaluate those who are worried and analyze their symptoms, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced. The clinic will include a team of experts in chemical exposures that is being deployed to eastern Ohio.

“These are very legitimate questions, and residents deserve an answer,” DeWine said while also emphasizing that testing inside and outside of homes in the village have no found no signs of toxins that were on the train.

“We're doing absolutely everything we can to assure residents to what the situation is,” he said. “I understand people have been traumatized. I understand skepticism.”

Nick Patrone, who lives four miles outside the village, said there is definitely an irritant in the air.

“You feel it,” he said. “A lot of my friends have children who have rashes that are unexplained all over their bodies. They have sore throats, they have congestion, they have ear irritation.”

Earlier this week, hundreds of people showed up at a public meeting to voice concerns and get answers from not only state and local leaders but also railroad operator Norfolk Southern. But representatives of the railroad were absent, saying they were worried about physical threats.

DeWine was upset by the no-show and said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw needs to go to East Palestine and answer questions.

At least five lawsuits have been filed against the railroad, and lawyers have been showing up in the area to offer advice and legal options.

Two weeks have now passed since the freight train carrying a variety of hazardous chemicals derailed, but the stench of what spilled hasn't left. In the aftermath, residents have complained about finding their cars covered in soot, their homes filled with overpowering odors and their pets getting sick or dying.

The chemicals also spilled into nearby creeks, killing thousands of fish, and a smaller amount eventually made their way into the Ohio River.

While environmental officials said the contaminant amounts in the river were low enough that they did not pose a threat, cities in Ohio and West Virginia that get their drinking water from the river had been monitoring a slow-moving plume and a few temporarily switched to alternative water sources.

Water samples on Friday showed the plume is now completely gone, DeWine said.

The governor also said that air testing inside 500 homes hasn’t detected dangerous levels in the village since residents were allowed to return after the controlled release and burn of five tanker cars filled with vinyl chloride, which is associated with an increased risk of certain cancers.

DeWine said the derailment has been traumatic for the village of just under 5,000 people. But he said “no one is trying to downplay anything.”

Ohio Health Department Director Bruce Vanderhoff said the extensive testing of air and water that has been in place the past two weeks should be reassuring.

“We have been guided from the beginning by people who are national experts on what to test for,” he said.

___

Seewer reported from Toledo.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday it is ordering Norfolk Southern to conduct a cleanup of contaminated soil and water resources near the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The EPA also ordered Norfolk Southern to reimburse the EPA for cleaning services that will be offered to residents and businesses. These cleaning services will be conducted by the EPA and government contractors.

Norfolk Southern will also be ordered to attend public meetings and provide updates online. This comes after Norfolk Southern leaders skipped a public meeting last week, citing safety concerns.

The EPA said if Norfolk Southern refuses the order, it will require the company to pay triple the costs.

“The Norfolk Southern train derailment has upended the lives of East Palestine families, and EPA’s order will ensure the company is held accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of this community,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “Let me be clear: Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess they created and for the trauma they’ve inflicted on this community. I’m deeply grateful to the emergency responders, including EPA personnel, who’ve been on the ground since day one and ensured there was no loss of life as a result of this disaster.”

As part of Tuesday’s order, the EPA said it is leading a coordinated cleanup effort with state and local officials in addition to Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk Southern said that it met with residents over the weekend. It also has claimed to have excavated 4,500 cubic yards of contaminated soil and collected 1.5 million gallons of contaminated water from the derailment site.

Although officials say the air is safe, there remain lingering concerns over the long-term impacts after vinyl chloride and other chemicals were released into the atmosphere.

State officials ordered the town to evacuate late on Feb. 5, nearly 48 hours after the derailment. Within days, residents were allowed to return.

DeWine said the water is currently safe to drink but that the state would continue to conduct additional testing. He said residents are most concerned about the long-term effects from the derailment.

“We will continue to do what needs to be done in the weeks and the months and years as we go forward," he said.

While the derailment took place in Ohio, the site was just miles from the Pennsylvania border. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said state officials are opening a criminal investigation to look into the incident.

"We will hold accountable Norfolk Southern, the company that made this vigilance necessary," Shapiro said. "The combination of Norfolk Southern's corporate greed, incompetence, and lack of care for our residents is absolutely unacceptable to me."

Video above: EPA administrator visits East Palestine train derailment site

After a catastrophic 38-train car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, some officials are raising concerns about a type of toxic substance that tends to stay in the environment.

Last week, Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance, the U.S. senators from Ohio, sent a letter to the state's environmental protection agency expressing concern that dioxins may have been released when some of the chemicals in the damaged railcars were deliberately burned for safety reasons. They joined residents of the small town and environmentalists from around the U.S. calling for state and federal environmental agencies to test the soil around the site where the tanker cars tipped over.

Here's a look at dioxins, their potential harms and whether they may have been created by burning the vinyl chloride that was on the Norfolk Southern train:

Highly toxic, persistent compounds

Dioxins refer to a group of toxic chemical compounds that can persist in the environment for long periods of time, according to the World Health Organization.

They are created through combustion and attach to dust particles, which is how they begin to circulate through an ecosystem.

Residents near the burn could have been exposed to dioxins in the air that landed on their skin or were breathed into their lungs, said Frederick Guengerich, a toxicologist at Vanderbilt University.

Skin exposure to high concentrations can cause what's known as chloracne — an intense skin inflammation, Guengerich said.

But the main pathway that dioxin gets into human bodies is not directly through something burning like the contents of the East Palestine tanker cars. It's through consumption of meat, dairy, fish and shellfish that have become contaminated. That contamination takes time.

"That's why it's important for the authorities to investigate this site now," said Ted Schettler, a physician with a public health degree who directs the Science and Environmental Health Network, a coalition of environmental organizations. "Because it's important to determine the extent to which dioxins are present in the soil and the surrounding area."

Does burning vinyl chloride create dioxins?

Linda Birnbaum, a leading dioxins researcher, toxicologist and former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, said that burning vinyl chloride does create dioxins. Other experts agreed the accident could have created them.

The "tremendous black plume" seen at East Palestine suggests the combustion process left lots of complex carbon compounds behind, said Murray McBride, a Cornell University soil and crop scientist.

McBride said it will be hard to say for sure whether these compounds were released until testing is done where the train cars derailed.

Which is likely why residents, politicians, environmentalists and public health professionals are all calling for state and federal environmental agencies to conduct testing at the derailment site.

Routes to the environment

There is already some level of dioxins in the environment — they can be created by certain industrial processes, or even by people burning trash in their backyards, McBride said.

Once they are released, dioxins can stick around in soil for decades. They can contaminate plants including crops. They accumulate up the food chain in oils and other fats.

In East Palestine, it's possible that soot particles from the plume carried dioxins onto nearby farms, where they could stick to the soil, McBride said.

"If you have grazing animals out there in the field, they will pick up some of the dioxins from soil particles," he said. "And so some of that gets into their bodies, and then that accumulates in fat tissue."

Eventually, those dioxins could make their way up the food chain to human consumers. Bioaccumulation means that more dioxin can get into humans than what's found in the environment after the crash.

"(Animals) don't metabolize and get rid of dioxins like we do other chemicals," Schettler said, and it's stored in the fat of animals that humans eat, like fish, and builds up over time, making the health effects worse.

Should residents be concerned?

Birnbaum and Schettler agreed that residents have reason for concern about dioxins from this accident.

Even though they are present in small amounts from other sources, the large amount of vinyl chloride burned off from the train cars could create more than usual, McBride said.

"That's my concern, that there could be an unusual concentration," he said. "But again, I'm waiting to see if these soils are analyzed."

It takes between 7 and 11 years for the chemical to start to break down in the body of a person or animal. And dioxins have been linked with cancer, developmental problems in children and reproductive issues and infertility in adults, according to the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.

Still, Guengerich thought that other potential health risks from the derailment — like the concern that exposure to the vinyl chloride itself could cause cancer — may be more pressing than the possible dioxins: "I wouldn't put it at the highest level on my list," he said.

Dr. Maureen Lichtveld, dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, agreed that vinyl chloride should be of more concern than dioxins for the public and said that even the mental health of a community rocked by the catastrophic derailment should be a higher public health priority than dioxin exposure.

As with many environmental exposures, it would be hard to prove any dioxin present came from the derailment. "I think that it would be virtually impossible .... to attribute any presence of dioxin to this particular burn," she said.

But most experts thought it was important to test the soils for dioxins — even though that process can be difficult and costly.

"The conditions are absolutely right for dioxins to have been formed," Schettler said. "It's going to be terribly important to determine that from a public health perspective, and to reassure the community."

HARRISBURG, Pa. —

Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month's derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals just across the border in Ohio, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday.

Video above: Toxic waste from East Palestine train derailment being shipped out

Shapiro's office said he met with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Thursday and secured an initial commitment for financial aid as the cleanup from the Feb. 3 derailment continues.

Norfolk Southern has made similar pledges to Ohio, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the company to cover the costs of cleanup from the derailment that toppled 38 rail cars in East Palestine, Ohio.

No one was hurt, but concerns that the chemicals could explode led state and local officials to approve releasing and burning toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars and to evacuate half of East Palestine and the surrounding area near the Pennsylvania border. Shapiro said Norfolk Southern will pay $5 million to reimburse fire departments for equipment that was contaminated or damaged and $1 million to Beaver and Lawrence counties to help business owners and residents whose livelihoods were damaged.

Another nearly $1.4 million will go to state agencies that responded, including for setting up a health clinic for residents, Shapiro said.

Shapiro's office said he will push Norfolk Southern to cover any additional costs that accumulate.

Video below: Pennsylvania Senate committee to subpoena Norfolk Southern CEO

In Ohio, Norfolk Southern previously announced more than $1 million to replace fire equipment used in the response to the fiery wreck, plus $1 million for East Palestine and more than $1.2 million for evacuation costs for nearly 900 families and businesses.

The company has said it is "committed to coordinating the cleanup project and paying for its associated costs," and wants to ensure that East Palestine's residents and natural environment recover.

Federal and state officials have repeatedly said it's safe for evacuated residents to return to the area and that air testing in the town and inside hundreds of homes hasn't detected any concerning levels of contaminants. However, some residents say they're still suffering from illnesses nearly a month later.

Norfolk Southern also announced on Monday a six-point safety plan that it says will immediately enhance the safety of its operations.

Video below: Transportation Secretary Buttigieg makes visit to East Palestine train derailment site

As Norfolk Southern’s CEO prepares to go before the Senate this week, the company released a six-point safety plan in response to last month’s derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The plan was based on the National Transportation Safety Board's initial findings, Norfolk Southern said. The company also had to respond to a derailment on Saturday in Springfield, Ohio, which temporarily prompted a “shelter-in-place” order for nearby residents.

"Reading the NTSB report makes it clear that meaningful safety improvements require a comprehensive industry effort that brings together railcar and tank car manufacturers, railcar owners and lessors, and the railroad companies," said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw. "We are eager to help drive that effort and we are not waiting to take action."

The train was carrying many hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride. Two days after the Feb. 3 derailment, state of Ohio officials ordered the town to evacuate as chemicals were burned to prevent an explosion.

The six points of the plan include:

- Enhance the hot bearing detector network
- Pilot next-generation hot bearing detectors
- Work with industry on practices for hot bearing detectors
- Deploy more acoustic bearing detectors
- Accelerate its Digital Train Inspection program
- Support a strong safety culture

According to the NTSB's report, as the train traveled, it passed through hot bearing detectors, which detect the train's bearing temperature. About 30 miles from the site of the derailment, a temperature of 34 degrees above ambient temperature was recorded. Ten miles out, that temperature increased to 103 degrees. Near the derailment's location, that temperature was up to 253 degrees above the ambient temperature.

It is considered critical when the temperature reaches 200 degrees above the ambient temperature. At 115 degrees, the NTSB says the train must come to a stop for an inspection.

Norfolk Southern noted that its crew "operated the train within the company's rules and operated the train below the track speed limit."

As the chief executive officer of the Norfolk Southern railroad prepares to appear before a Senate committee Thursday to answer questions about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, multiple members of Congress are speaking out about what a Scripps News investigation revealed last week: the CEO, along with other executives received millions of dollars in cash awards after the company cut costs and began running longer trains. Scripps News learned that the train's length, which spanned nearly two miles, is being investigated as a potential contributing factor in the toxic disaster.

"I want to see performance incentives for driving safety, not just for driving profits for Wall Street," said U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.

Scripps News previously reported Norfolk Southern, which owns the train that derailed, overhauled its operations in 2019, saying in its annual report that it had begun intentionally "running fewer, heavier trains" – something critics say places cost-cutting above safety.

"This is basic physics. If you have really long trains, you have bigger forces in those trains," said Moulton. "It makes the derailments more spectacular. Not in a good way."

The Scripps News investigation found that Norfolk Southern told the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a proxy filing that one reason top executives were given large cash awards was because of the company’s "record performance on train length and weight" in 2021. They also told shareholders they had achieved a new "record" low operating ratio – a Wall Street metric that compares a railroad's operating expenses to its operating revenues.

That same year, Norfolk Southern’s then-CEO James Squires landed nearly $3.5 million in cash and at least four other executives got more than one million dollars each, including Norfolk Southern’s current chief executive officer Alan Shaw, who was executive vice president at the time.

Jared Cassity, the safety director for SMART Union, the nation’s largest railroad union, expressed concerns in the initial Scripps News report last week.

"You have these executives that are getting rewarded and so the instructions keep coming down no matter what happens. I want more. I want more. I want more and that is why you see the railroads saying that the train length is going to continue to grow no matter what," Cassity said. "The railroads are going to keep flirting with danger, keep flirting with disaster as long as people are getting rich."

In June 2022, Norfolk Southern’s chief operating officer at the time, Cindy Sanborn, appeared before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and defended the company's newer practice of running long trains.

"Running longer trains is allowing us to more efficiently move what we can move, and safely. I do not think the evidence supports that longer trains drive derailments," Sanborn told members of Congress.

At the time, Congressman Moulton challenged that claim.

"Mr. Chairman, I hope we can examine that last question further because I think the exact opposite – that we are seeing more derailments, more train breaks, because they are so long," he said.

But when Moulton talked to Scripps News this week, he went further.

"I think that this official lied to me," Moulton said.

Scripps News discovered that just 10 weeks before Sanborn's appearance before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which Moulton sits on, Norfolk Southern filed a disclosure with the SEC., reporting it had paid Sanborn $1.13 million in cash awards in 2021, in part, for record train length.

"I mean, frankly, she should have disclosed that before she even showed up to testify in front of Congress," Moulton said. "This is a great credit to you and your investigation that we know about this now. And and we're going to be zeroing in on this much more closely."

Sanborn retired from Norfolk Southern in December. Multiple attempts by Scripps News to reach her for comment were unsuccessful. An administrative assistant for a board Sanborn currently sits on told us that she sent Sanborn our request to speak with her, but that request went unanswered.

We also reached out to Norfolk Southern multiple times, but the company did not respond to specific questions about Moulton's comments.

The findings from the Scripps News investigation also drew scrutiny from U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R- Ohio), who represents the East Palestine, Ohio community.

"You want people to be paid for performance. Unfortunately, you have way too many train derailments in our country," Vance told Scripps News. "Instead of paying, you know, massive bonuses to railway CEO's I think we should be asking some tough questions about why we lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to safety," Vance said.

Last week, just three days after the Scripps News investigation revealed that Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw personally received cash awards related, in part, to making the company’s trains longer, the railroad issued a press release saying, "Shaw announced today that he will donate the entirety of his pre-scheduled stock sale of $445,000 to fund scholarships for East Palestine students."

Company spokesperson Katelyn Byrd later wrote Scripps News, "Alan Shaw made this decision... without having factored in media coverage."

When asked if other executives would also donate any of their own personal cash awards or stock sales— Byrd replied, "Unable to make a forward-looking statement at this time."

Scripps News also asked if the company planned to change the performance metrics that trigger cash and other awards. In response, Byrd restated, "Unable to make a forward-looking statement at this time."

"It looks like we need to have more hearings to get into this in more detail," Rep. Moulton said. "I know that the next time any railroad official comes before me in Congress, I'm going to ask: 'What are you being paid to tell me?'"

Nathaniel Reed contributed reporting to this story. 

Contact the lead reporters on this story at mark.greenblatt@scripps.com and carrie.cochran@scripps.com.