(East Palestine) Norfolk Southern chairman Alan Shaw traveled to East Palestine, Ohio on Saturday after residents and political leaders criticized the company’s response to a train derailment in goods carrying toxic materials at the beginning of the month.
According to Fox Business, the company’s president and CEO told reporters he was there “to support the community,” but declined to comment further.
Representatives of Norfolk Southern were absent from a town hall meeting attended by hundreds of people on Wednesday, where officials said they were worried about health threats. Governor Mike DeWine said he was upset by the company’s absence from the meeting, and said Alan Shaw had to travel to East Palestine to answer questions.
Norfolk Southern said in a statement on Friday that it was “committed to coordinating the cleanup and paying associated costs,” saying the company wanted the people and natural environment of East Palestine “to recover, but also prosper”.
“Our company will work tirelessly every day to get East Palestine back on its feet as soon as possible,” Shaw said in the statement. We know we will be judged on our actions, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
Despite repeated assurances that air and water tests showed no signs of contamination, residents of the town near the Pennsylvania border have complained of persistent headaches and eye irritation . Some also said they were afraid to return home.
Mike DeWine said a medical clinic will be open early next week to assess residents and analyze their symptoms, and will include a team of chemical exposure experts.
Chemicals that spilled into nearby streams killed thousands of fish, and a smaller amount ended up in the Ohio River. While officials have said the contamination poses no threat, some towns in Ohio and West Virginia that get their drinking water from the river have temporarily turned to alternative water sources.