EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Residents of an eastern Ohio village are learning more about the fiery wreck of a Norfolk Southern freight train last year that derailed their lives as another hearing gets underway, with the National Transportation Safety Board set to discuss the ongoing investigation and issue recommendations for averting future disasters. “On behalf of the entire agency I want to recognize the significant impact this derailment has had,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy Homendy said at the beginning of Tuesday's hearing. She said some people have tried to minimize the wide-reaching effects of last year's derailment because there were no deaths, but “the absence of fatality or injury doesn’t mean the presence of safety.
” Michael Graham, a board member who was on the scene after the derailment, said the NTSB’s work would not end after it makes recommendations to prevent future derailments. “We will continue to pursue and advocate for these safety recommendations until each one is implemented,” he said. Dozens of freight cars derailed Feb.
3, 2023, on the outskirts of East Palestine near the Pennsylvania border, including 11 carrying hazardous materials. Residents evacuated as fears grew about a potential explosion. Despite potential health effects, officials then intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five railcars, sending flames and plumes of black smoke into the air.
The NTSB said early on that an overheated bearing on one of t.
