EcoWatch
Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    Home Business

    Second Ohio Norfolk Southern Train Derailment Escalates Rail Freight Safety Concerns

    By: Olivia Rosane
    Updated: March 7, 2023
    Edited by Chris McDermott
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    A Norfolk Southern train in Wauseon, Ohio
    A Norfolk Southern train in Wauseon, Ohio in 2021. Lectrician2 / CC BY-SA 4.0
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    A month and a day after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio — forcing evacuations as it spewed toxic chemicals into the surrounding community — another train from the same company derailed in the same state.

    The derailment, which took place Saturday, March 4 at around 4:45 p.m. local time near Springfield, Ohio, in the state’s Clark County, did not release any dangerous chemicals, as company and state officials were quick to reassure residents. But it did raise concerns about the safety of Norfolk Southern’s operations.

    “The railroad’s got a lot of questions they’ve got to answer and they really haven’t really done it very well yet,” Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown said on “This Week,” as The New York Times reported. 

    Sandusky, Steubenville, East Palestine, and now Springfield—all in the last five months.

    This is unacceptable. It’s why we must pass my bipartisan Rail Safety Act now.

    — Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) March 5, 2023

    Saturday’s derailment saw 28 of 212 cars derail en route from Bellevue, Ohio, to Birmingham, Alabama. The overturned cars slid along the tracks and knocked over power lines, which shut off power to 1,500 Clark County residents, as NPR reported. The four or five homes within 1,000 feet of the crash were asked to shelter in place for 10 hours after the incident as a precaution. 

    More From EcoWatch
    • Ohio Electricity Rates and Providers
    • How to Lower Your Energy Bill
    • Sustainable Home Improvements You Can Make Now

    For residents, the incident brought up fears of a repeat of what had happened in East Palestine on Feb. 3, where hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxins including vinyl chloride were released from the crash site. Some people there are still complaining of suspicious odors and rashes. Removing contaminated soil from the area could take up to two months, as CNN reported.

    The thought of another East Palestine shook Shawn Heaton as he witnessed Saturday’s derailment firsthand while waiting in his car at a rail crossing. 

    “Once I got back home, the first thing I did was get on my phone and check wind direction and all that stuff to make sure we were upwind,” Heaton told The New York Times. “It’s just crazy, the things that can go through your mind.”

    However, in this case, it seems that history did not repeat. 

    “NO hazmat involved. NO injuries reported. Our crews and contractors are responding. Authorities are helping with impacted crossing closures,” Norfolk Southern spokesperson Connor Spielmaker said on Twitter. “There is NO risk to the public.”

    NS train derailment Springfield, OH 📍

    Approx 20 cars (of 212). NO hazmat involved. NO injuries reported. Our crews and contractors are responding. Authorities are helping with impacted crossing closures.

    There is NO risk to the public.

    — Connor Spielmaker (@connaspiel) March 5, 2023

    State agencies also said the area was safe after testing. 

    “There was no release of any chemical or any hazardous material to the soil, to the air, to the water,” Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Anne Vogel said Sunday, as CNN reported. 

    Four tanks that derailed had previously been carrying diesel exhaust fluid and a wastewater treatment additive, but were empty at the time of the crash and only contained “very minor amounts,” Springfield Fire Assistant Chief Matt Smith said. 

    Another car was carrying PVC pellets that did impact the surrounding soil. 

    Clark County Health Commissioner Charles Patterson said that the Ohio EPA and other technicians had tested the area and would keep monitoring it.

    “Technicians will continue to be on site to ensure that there isn’t any contamination that has been missed,” he said.

    The cause of Saturday’s incident is unknown, and the National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to investigate. However, the back-to-back crashes have ignited a bipartisan call for action on rail safety.

    “The fact that we’re having derailment after derailment shows really the lack of investment, the disinvestment, in our infrastructure, and that needs to change,” Representative Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio), whose district includes Saturday’s crash site, said Sunday, as The Washington Post reported. 

    Brown and Ohio’s Republican Senator J.D. Vance worked together to introduce the Railway Safety Act of 2023 on March 1. It would, among other measures, require companies like Norfolk Southern to inform states of what toxic freight is passing through. It has been praised by both Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and President Joe Biden, who, while both Democrats, have clashed on environmental and regulatory policies. 

    “I applaud the bipartisan group of senators for proposing rail safety legislation that provides many of the solutions that my administration has been calling for,” Biden said in a statement Thursday. “This legislation provides us with tools to hold companies accountable to prevent terrible tragedies like the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine and to make those communities whole.”

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Olivia Rosane

      Olivia Rosane is a freelance writer and reporter with a decade’s worth of experience. She has been contributing to EcoWatch daily since 2018 and has also covered environmental themes for Treehugger, The Trouble, YES! Magazine and Real Life. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and a master’s in Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      How Bad Are SUVs for the Climate?
      SUVs are often seen as the symbol of excessive fossil
      By Olivia Rosane
      U.S. Lawsuit Seeks to Force Two Major Companies to Significantly Reduce Emissions From 'Cancer Alley' Plant
      The U.S. filed a complaint last week against two companies
      By Olivia Rosane
      Pesticides 101: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
      Pesticides have been used, in one way or another, for
      By Libby Leonard

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Second Ohio Norfolk Southern Train Derailment Escalates Rail Freight Safety Concerns
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 7, 2023
        • 13 Dead as ‘Historic’ Storm Lashes Southeast, Midwest and Northeast
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 7, 2023
        • UN Treaty to Protect High Seas Finally Negotiated After More Than a Decade of Talks
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          March 6, 2023
        • Climate Crisis Increases Human-Wildlife Conflict
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 6, 2023
        • How Bad Are SUVs for the Climate?
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 6, 2023
        • U.S. Lawsuit Seeks to Force Two Major Companies to Significantly Reduce Emissions From ‘Cancer Alley’ Plant
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 6, 2023
        • Pesticides 101: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
          by Libby Leonard
          March 6, 2023
        • West Coast Sees ‘Once-in-a-Generation’ Winter Storms
          by Olivia Rosane
          March 3, 2023
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 573k
          Twitter 238k
          Instagram 37k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more