EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Norfolk Southern on Tuesday to pay for the cleanup of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck and chemical release as federal regulators took charge of long-term recovery efforts and promised worried residents they won’t be forgotten.
Speaking to reporters near the derailment site, Norfolk Southern’s CEO promised to undertake necessary steps to ensure the long-term health of the community and become a “safer railroad.” EPA used its authority under the federal Superfund law to order Norfolk Southern to take all available measures to clean up contaminated air and water. It also said the company would be required to reimburse the federal government for a new program to provide cleaning services for impacted residents and businesses.
“Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess that they created and the trauma that they inflicted on this community,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan vowed at a news conference in East Palestine. “I know this order cannot undue the nightmare that families in this town have been living with, but it will begin to deliver much-needed justice for the pain that Norfolk Southern has caused.”