Workers continue to clean up remaining tank cars, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in East Palestine, Ohio, after the Norfolk Southern freight train derailed on Feb. 3.
Matt released | PA
Federal transportation officials released a preliminary report Thursday examining the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals in eastern Palestine, Ohio.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report did not offer an exact cause of the derailment, but pointed to several operational issues.
According to the NTSB report, “Surveillance video of a local residence showed what appeared to be a wheel bearing in the final stages of an overheating failure moments before the derailment. The wheel bearing and axle affected have been collected as evidence and will be reviewed by the NTSB.”
Future investigative activities will focus on wheelset and bearing, tank car design and maintenance procedures, derailment damage, inspection practices, and response review. case of accident.
At around 9 p.m. on February 3, an eastbound Norfolk Southern freight train derailed, including 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials which then burst into flames. These chemicals included vinyl chloride, a highly flammable carcinogen. Thirty-eight cars derailed in the incident, according to the NTSB report.
According to the report, the train was traveling about 47 miles per hour at the time of the derailment, below the maximum permitted speed of 50 miles per hour. The integral train control system, put in place to prevent overspeed derailments, was functioning at the time of the derailment.
After the train passed a trackside fault detector, it transmitted an alarm message asking the crew to stop the train to inspect the hot axle. The Norfolk Southern train was equipped with a hot bearing detection system, designed to detect overheated bearings.
At the time the train was ordered to stop, the temperature of the bearing registered a temperature of 253 degrees Fahrenheit, above a threshold of 200 degrees at which temperatures are considered critical, according to the criteria of Norfolk Southern. At the previous detector, it recorded a temperature of 103 degrees.
A one-mile evacuation zone was put in place after the derailment, affecting up to 2,000 residents.
Two days after the derailment, temperatures continued to rise in five of the derailed tank cars carrying 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride. Due to the possibility of a catastrophic explosion which could have sent shrapnel up to a mile, Norfolk Southern conducted a controlled release three days later.
No deaths or injuries were reported.
Thursday’s report comes the same day Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the site.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy and NTSB Bureau of Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Director Robert J. Hall will hold a press conference Thursday afternoon at agency headquarters. in Washington, DC.
This is breaking news. Please check for updates.
