A faulty alarm system helped cause the 2023 Norfolk Southern Corp. train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and the company may have compounded the disaster with an unnecessary burning of hazardous materials days after the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.
The board met to review its final report on the catastrophe that sent volatile substances into the surrounding air, soil and water. A full report is expected within a few weeks.
“Unfortunately, some have sought to minimize the wide-ranging impacts of this derailment, pointing to the fact that there were no fatalities or injuries,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at the Tuesday meeting. “For this, we are certainly grateful, but the absence of a fatality or injury doesn’t mean the presence of safety.”
