Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw and U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan appeared along with East Palestine residents.
A group of East Palestine residents on Wednesday evening took the president and CEO of railroad giant Norfolk Southern to task on live television nearly three weeks after one of the company’s trains derailed in their town and spilled toxic chemicals.
Participating in a CNN town hall, the residents, in particular, expressed outrage at Norfolk Southern’s swift action to install new train tracks without removing contaminated soil underneath them.
Alan Shaw, who became CEO of Norfolk Southern in May of last year, said the tracks would be torn up and the soil removed early next month.
“So until then we’ll just have it keep going down,” said Jessica Conrad, who said her ancestors had helped build the town of nearly 5,000 residents.
When asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper whether it was true the 141-car train that derailed on Feb. 3 near the Pennsylvania border only had three workers on it, Shaw said he was prohibited from talking about what may have caused the train to hop its tracks until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation, the initial report of which is expected to be released Thursday. Federal investigators have said a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the derailment.
Some of the sharpest criticism for Shaw came from Jim Stewart, who said he has lived in East Palestine for 65 years and is close to retiring.
