Deluzio, Colleagues Call for DOJ Investigation into Norfolk Southern Railroad for Actions Following East Palestine Derailment

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) led a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the department to investigate the actions of Norfolk Southern Railroad relating to their response to their train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in February 2023. Congressman Deluzio was joined on the letter by Congressmembers Jesus G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), Pat Ryan (NY-18) and Val Hoyle (OR-04), all of whom are members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 

On June 25, 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released their findings about the derailment, fire, and consequent “vent and burn” of the train cars’ hazardous materials. The safety board findings included concerns that Norfolk Southern and its contractors intentionally misled the onsite incident commander and local and state officials at the unified command center, pressuring them into ordering the vent and burn. 

During the investigation, Norfolk Southern and its affiliated groups engaged in what NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called “unconscionable” conduct and demonstrated “complete disregard” for the rules and regulations put in place to protect the integrity of the investigation. This, Congressman Deluzio and his colleagues write, implies that Norfolk Southern and its contractors “pursued [the vent and burn] to expedite the process of resuming rail operations at the expense of public safety." 

The letter continues: “The black plume of fire, toxic chemicals, and smoke that we witnessed was the result of Norfolk Southern’s misrepresentation of the situation to the incident commander. This not only put the first responders at the site at risk, but also the surrounding communities and any downstream, downwind communities. It is unacceptable. 

“We, therefore, urge you to further investigate Norfolk Southern and its contractors involved to determine whether they deliberately withheld critical information from the incident commander and purposefully misrepresented that the tank cars were at risk of catastrophic failure from a polymerization reaction, resulting in the unnecessary decision to vent and burn five derailed vinyl chloride monomer tank cars in a rush to resume freight rail service. Lives changed forever that day and we want to ensure that responsible parties are held to account for their actions.” 

Congressman Deluzio represents constituents in Beaver County, PA, the community just on the other side of the state line from the Ohio derailment—dozens of whom were within the evacuation zone in the wake of the derailment. 

This letter is Congressman Deluzio’s latest push in his fight for full accountability for the derailment and to make freight rail safer. He is the lead U.S. House sponsor of the Railway Safety Act, a comprehensive measure to address issues that contributed to the derailment and has been pushing for action on the bipartisan legislation for over a year. Congressman Deluzio is also part of a bipartisan push to advance legislation to fund the research and long-term monitoring of health outcomes in the area impacted by the derailment. Last year, he wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson calling for a vote on the Railway Safety Act, and he also hosted President Joe Biden in Darlington Township to speak with first responders who jumped into harm’s way to respond to the derailment.

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