From Canada to Washington, D.C., the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has placed a renewed focus on rail-safety standards.
On March 22, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) urged the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to pass the Railway Safety Act of 2023. Brown and Vance were among a bipartisan group that introduced the bill on March 1.
In his statement, Vance called for higher penalties for rail safety violations and a minimum of two-man train crews to ensure faster response to a derailment, including proper braking.
Following the testimony, the American Chemistry Council issued a statement in support of the proposal, calling for a “multi-layered approach to transporting hazardous materials by rail.”
According to a CBC News report on March 23, the train derailment has placed a renewed focus on rail safety in Canadian towns and cities where shipments of dangerous goods pass through on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, officials investigating the Ohio accident have not named the companies that supplied the chemicals on board the Norfolk Southern train that derailed. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) spokesman Keith Holloway said the agency doesn’t have information available for release at this time.
“This may be information that is collected as part of the ongoing investigation should there be significant value in what may have contributed to the derailment,” he said in an email to Chemical Processing.
