The controlled burn of a derailed rail car containing toxic vinyl chloride in East Palestine in February 2023 was not necessary, according to National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy.
Homendy made the comment Wednesday during a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on the NTSB investigation report on the derailment.
Homendy said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Norfolk Southern contractors didn't have all the facts from the shipping company and the car temperature stabilized before the burn.
"In order for polymerization to occur, which was Norfolk Southern and their contractor's justification for the vent and burn, you would have to have rapidly increasing temperatures and some sort of infusion of oxygen, neither of which occurred," Homendy said.
DeWine was not made aware that representatives from OxyVinyls, the company that was shipping the vinyl chloride, were present at the scene, Homendy added.
"They were left out of the room," Homendy said. "The incident commander didn't even know they existed. Neither did the governor. So they were provided incomplete information to make a decision."
Representatives from the OxyVinyls testified that because the temperature in the tankers was dropping, there was no need for a controlled burn, Homendy said.
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance led the questioning in the committee meeting. The Republican called the findings "extraordinary." Vance said he and some residents believe Norfolk Southern officials may have been behind the push for the controlled burn.
"Did they do this not because it was necessary, but because it allowed them to move traffic and freight more quickly?" he asked "If so, that is an extraordinary thing that I think requires a lot further work from this committee and from others."
Vance gave the NTSB and its staff credit, but he also criticized the process at the scene for decisions that were greatly detrimental to people in East Palestine.
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio called the new information "outrageous" and said it's more proof that Norfolk Southern put profits over safety and cannot be trusted.
Residents have complained of symptoms like headaches, runny noses, dizziness and cognitive issues they believe are a result of the chemical burn. Air, soil and water samples taken by firms contracted by Norfolk Southern have shown safe levels of toxins, according to state and federal officials.
