Biden Issues Executive Order To Ensure Norfolk Southern Is 'Fully Held Accountable' for East Palestine Disaster

Ohio Army National Guard and Ohio State Highway Patrol officers assist with traffic control after the train derailment in East Palestine. Credit: (Flickr/Ohio National Guard)

As Norfolk Southern continues to deal with the legal and PR fallout from the East Palestine derailment, President Biden this week issued an executive order to assign a so-called Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator to act as a kind of intermediary between Homeland Security, the state of Ohio and East Palestine residents still affected by the disaster.

In the next month or two, the EPA, according to Biden’s order, will gauge the full extent of Norfolk Southern’s ongoing cleanup efforts, including the “status of air, soil, surface water, groundwater and drinking water sampling and monitoring.” Such reporting will continue, the order said, until “all cleanup, assessment and monitoring work” is finished.

“It is a continuing priority of my administration to hold Norfolk Southern full accountable under the law for this disaster,” Biden said in the order, “and any of its long-term effects, and to provide additional federal assistance that the affected states, the people of East Palestine and all those affected in surrounding communities may need.”

Although Norfolk Southern was quick to respond to the February derailment, which contaminated at least 115,000 tons of soil and 33 million gallons of liquids, its reputation has been tainted otherwise. And a recent report from the Huffington Post cited emails obtained by public record requests showing that the EPA itself “waited a month to consult some of its top experts about the risk of dangerous chemical exposure.”

The company set up a $1 million community fund to dole out money to in-need East Palestinians, yet it’s still roiling from a 58-count federal lawsuit and a spotlight on its rusted bridges badly in need of repair.

“I hear you, we hear you,” Norfolk President Alan Shaw said in a letter February 13th. “My simple answer is that we are here and will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety and to help East Palestine recover and thrive.”

Local officials have had mixed feelings about the federal response. For example, Biden in late February opted to visit Ukraine first instead, which Mayor Trent Conaway qualified as “the biggest slap in the face” to residents. It took the administration 14 days to even formally acknowledge the strife via an official release.

Depending on the read-out of the two-month report, it’s possible that Homeland Security could declare another public health emergency—or a “major disaster declaration”—in East Palestine, if the circumstances necessitate.