Security board contemplating rail trade investigation
Nationwide Transportation Security Board Chair Jennifer Homendy stated the federal investigative panel is contemplating Senate Majority Chief Charles E. Schumer’s request to probe security laws in any respect the most important rail firms.
The request from Schumer, D-N.Y., adopted a Norfolk Southern prepare derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that leaked hazardous chemical compounds into the group’s air, soil and water in early February. The NTSB is at present investigating Norfolk Southern as a part of the derailment inquiry.
Schumer despatched a letter to Homendy final week urging the board to develop its investigation to all Class I railroads, together with giants like BNSF Railway, CSX and Canadian Pacific, with the objective of enhancing rail security throughout the nation.
“A full investigation might inform us which of [the derailments] occurred due to tracks that have been degraded or … which insurance policies contributed to the two,700 deaths in recent times and if any of those might have been prevented,” Schumer stated on the ground Wednesday. “The Senate deserves explanations; People and communities like East Palestine need solutions.”
Schumer’s request is one more name from each Democrats and Republicans to carry Norfolk Southern accountable for the derailment, creating distinctive bipartisanship over federal regulation and oversight of firms. Within the Senate, Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown and Ohio Republican J.D. Vance launched a rail security invoice geared toward ramping up laws and fines for security violations.
