National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy admitted Wednesday that the controlled burn at the site of a train derailment that devastated the town of East Palestine was not necessary.
A train carrying toxic chemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2023, prompting evacuations and shelter-in-place orders as authorities moved to address the release of the chemicals. Officials warned of a possible “catastrophic blast” Feb. 6 before carrying out a controlled burn.
“Is it true that these readings indicated an initial temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit at 4 PM on February 5th, which eventually declined to 126 degrees Fahrenheit at 9:30 AM on February 6th, at which point it stabilized?” Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio asked Homendy during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, according to a release from his office.
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“That’s correct, Senator. It was stabilized well, well before the vent and burn,” Homendy responded. “Many hours before.”
Residents described an odor in the town after the derailment and controlled burn. Others say that water in the area is not drinkable, even though Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio drank a glass of the water on Feb. 22, 2023.
Vance continued the questioning, noting that the company shipping the toxic chemicals said the conditions at the scene were not conducive to cause an explosion.
“My line of questioning, I just want to be clear here, is not a criticism of the incident commander or of the governor. I think it’s a criticism of the people on the ground who provided inadequate information, and provided inadequate information, I think, to the great detriment of the community on the ground,” Vance said. “This is extraordinary work by your team, but this is a really, really troubling set of circumstances.”
“This town very well may have been poisoned to facilitate the rapid movement of freight, or at the very least, it was poisoned for reasons that we can’t identify,” Vance continued. “That should really concern every single person on this committee.”
Harold Hutchison on March 6, 2024
