ATLANTA — As a massive smoke plume soared into the sky from the controlled burn of a wrecked Norfolk Southern train in early February, even the company’s CEO Alan Shaw was alarmed. And he’s been working for the railroad for more than 28 years.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. And I hope I never do again,” said Shaw in an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was startling and terrifying and disturbing.”
Shaw was on the ground in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 6 when a unified command of government officials and the Atlanta-based railroad decided to burn toxic vinyl chloride from cars that toppled over three days earlier in the village hugging the Pennsylvania border. It was a fraught decision, as the chemical had built up pressure and was threatening to cause an uncontrolled explosion that could have blasted shrapnel across the town.
