WASHINGTON — The head of Norfolk Southern Corp. pledged at a Senate hearing Thursday to fully restore environmental and economic conditions in the Ohio community where one of the company’s trains derailed last month, triggering a fire and public health concerns.
“I am determined to make this right,” Alan Shaw, the rail company’s president and CEO, told the Environment and Public Works Committee during the first congressional hearing on the incident. “Norfolk Southern will clean the site safely, thoroughly and with urgency. You have my personal commitment. Norfolk Southern will get the job done and help East Palestine thrive.”
Shaw said the company has already committed more than $21 million to the cleanup and to aid East Palestine residents and businesses, and another $7.5 million for nearby communities in Pennsylvania just across the state line from the accident.
