A rapidly overheating wheel bearing and an extremely short warning time conspired to send a freight train off the rails in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report.
An axle temperature more than 200°F above the surrounding air is considered critical and warrants stopping the affected rail car completely for inspection. The temperature was 253°F above the ambient when the crew received a “critical audible alarm message,” the NTSB said.
An engineer did slow and stop the train and emergency brakes kicked in, but the crew didn’t get the warning until just before dozens of cars derailed, the NTSB said Thursday as U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the crash site for the first time.
“I can tell you this much: This was 100% preventable,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Thursday, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“After the train stopped, the crew observed fire and smoke and notified the Cleveland East dispatcher of a possible derailment,” the NTSB’s preliminary report said. “With dispatcher authorization, the crew applied handbrakes to the two railcars at the head of the train, uncoupled the head-end locomotives, and moved the locomotives about one mile from the uncoupled railcars. Responders arrived at the derailment site and began response efforts.”
The NTSB will hold a field investigative hearing on the derailment in the spring, which it rarely does, The Enquirer reported.
State officials from Ohio and Pennsylvania, whose border lies about a mile from the disaster site, won’t wait that long. Pennsylvania has already made a referral to its district attorney’s office for potential criminal charges against train operator Norfolk Southern, and Ohio is considering doing so. Officials of both states have promised an investigation.
The NTSB had suspected an overheated wheel bearing earlier this month after inspecting the part. The new report confirms that with actual measurements.
The 150-car train operated by Norfolk Southern Railway was headed east on Feb. 3 when 38 of its cars derailed just before 9 p.m., including 11 tank cars “carrying hazardous materials that subsequently ignited, fueling fires that damaged an additional 12 non-derailed railcars,” the NTSB outlined in its report. Five of those were carrying toxic vinyl chloride that continued to heat up, threatening explosion.
Residents were evacuated within a two-mile radius so officials could conduct a “controlled burn” of the vinyl chloride. They also dug ditches to contain the hazardous liquid as it vaporized and burned, the NTSB said.
Environmental Protection Agency officials have since deemed the soil, air and surrounding groundwater to be below toxic levels and safe for residents, who remain distrustful.
Angry residents — many who say they are still feeling sick three weeks after the derailment — took Gov. Mike DeWine and Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to task at a town hall on Wednesday night, airing concerns about cleanup efforts, air and water safety and the potential long-term health effects of the chemical release, CNN reported.
Norfolk Southern did not immediately comment Thursday on the NTSB report but said it is committed to a full cleanup going above and beyond what it initially proposed. The company also announced it would open a health clinic for people with concerns or symptoms and has established a relief fund.
“We recognize that we have a responsibility, and we have committed to doing what’s right for the residents of East Palestine,” Norfolk Southern said on a new website devoted to the incident, “Making It Right in East Palestine.” “We are going to learn from this terrible accident and work with regulators and elected officials to improve railroad safety.”