Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the company “owes the American people some answers to some very important questions” about the incident in East Palestine.
WASHINGTON — A Senate committee has asked the CEO of Norfolk Southern to testify under oath about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, two congressional aides told NBC News.
CEO Alan Shaw was asked to participate in an upcoming hearing hosted by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, according to a Democratic aide and a Republican aide.
The committee — led by Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the top Republican on the committee — has not publicly announced a date for the hearing.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday called on Shaw to answer questions under oath about the train derailment.
“The accident has been deemed 100% preventable, so Mr. Shaw should be transparent, forthright, and he should not duck but instead testify before America, before the Senate, as soon as possible,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.
“Norfolk Southern owes the American people some answers to some very important questions,” added Schumer.
Norfolk Southern did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Shaw would testify on Capitol Hill.
East Palestine is grappling with the aftermath of the Feb. 3 derailment that led to a spill of toxic chemicals. EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited the area on Tuesday for a third time as officials from his agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to respond to the crisis. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg vowed during a trip to the town last week that his department will work with the administration and Congress to prevent similar disasters in the future.
Meanwhile, a pair of Democrats on the House side, Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Chriz Deluzio of Pennsylvania, introduced legislation Tuesday that would broaden the definition by which trains get classified as “high-hazard flammable train.”
Separately, Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent a letter to Regan on Monday requesting information related to the train derailment by March 13.