By Julio Cesar Chavez and Brad Brooks

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (Reuters) -A U.S. practice derailment that spilled poisonous chemical substances in an Ohio city may need been prevented if the railway firm’s alarm system had given engineers an earlier warning that bearings had been overheating, the chair of the Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned on Thursday with the discharge of a preliminary investigation.

“Had there been a detector earlier, that derailment might not have occurred,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy instructed reporters in Washington. The incident prompted the evacuation of hundreds of individuals and ignited well being considerations.

Whereas stressing a remaining report on the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine may very well be 18 months away, she mentioned the NTSB might suggest that railroad corporations decrease the temperature thresholds that will set off an alarm about overheated bearings.

Norfolk Southern Corp (NYSE:), the operator of the practice, mentioned in an emailed assertion that its system to detect overheated bearings was working usually within the space the place the accident occurred and mentioned its warning system is among the many most delicate within the business.

Norfolk Southern mentioned it’s cooperating totally with the NTSB.

The derailment has sparked a political battle and a blame recreation over railroad security laws, with residents voicing deep concern over the long-term well being influence of the thousands and thousands of kilos of carcinogenic chemical substances spilled of their city. 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the wreckage on Thursday and took goal at freight rail corporations over their responses to efforts to enhance security laws.

Sporting a tough hat and orange security vest whereas he met with NTSB workers, Buttigieg instructed reporters: “Norfolk Southern and the opposite freight rail corporations must cease preventing us each time we attempt to do a regulation.”

Norfolk Southern’s chief government apologized on Wednesday at a CNN city corridor occasion that highlighted residents’ considerations about soil and floor water contamination.

Homendy mentioned that in 2021 there have been 868 derailments throughout the US of freight automobiles in the identical class because the Norfolk Southern practice that wrecked, a quantity she mentioned was far too excessive and the results of each the business and authorities not implementing earlier NTSB security suggestions.

The rail business had mentioned 99.9% of all hazardous materials shipments reached their vacation spot with out incident and the hazmat accident fee has declined by 55% since 2012.

In its preliminary report, the NTSB mentioned the practice engineer utilized brakes as quickly as an alarm rang on Feb. 3 to warn of an overheated axle on the Norfolk Southern practice.

RARE HEARING SCHEDULED

The NTSB mentioned “defect detectors” confirmed the axle and wheel bearing beginning to warmth up about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the derailment website, however to not ranges that will have triggered the audible alarm to warn the practice engineer that distant.

Every particular person railroad firm determines its personal temperature thresholds for when alarms are triggered.

Earlier than the derailment, temperature measurements on the Norfolk Southern practice’s suspect wheel had been doubling each 10 miles within the lead-up to the derailment, the NTSB mentioned.

Norfolk Southern, in its assertion on Thursday, mentioned it’s now inspecting all the practically 1,000 wayside warmth detectors on its system, on prime of standard inspections each 30 days.

The NTSB mentioned it could maintain a uncommon “investigative discipline listening to” close to the derailment website in East Palestine and name witnesses. The board mentioned all events concerned within the derailment had been totally cooperating with its investigation.

Some rail security necessities had been withdrawn beneath Republican former President Donald Trump. Some Republican critics of the East Palestine response who beforehand opposed rail laws have now expressed openness to new guidelines.

The Democratic Biden administration had been criticized for not having made a high-level go to sooner. Buttigieg on Thursday mentioned he had not wished to make an earlier go to that may have impeded the emergency response.

The NTSB additionally mentioned it was investigating whether or not stress reduction valves on practice automobiles carrying the poisonous chemical vinyl chloride functioned correctly following the wreck and subsequent fireplace.

Specialists have mentioned that if these valves had functioned correctly, authorities might not have wanted to empty upward of 1.1 million kilos of vinyl chloride from automobiles and purposefully set it ablaze, contaminating the surroundings.

President Joe Biden and his administration have mentioned Norfolk Southern should pay for the harm and clean-up efforts. The EPA ordered firm officers to attend city corridor occasions after executives did not attend an earlier assembly in East Palestine.

Russell Quimby, a retired NTSB investigator, mentioned rail corporations ought to monitor variations in temperature readings between the sensors spaced alongside a rail line, which might give an early warning {that a} bearing is failing, relatively than await a bearing to hit a excessive temperature to sound an alarm.

“They begin gradual, however the longer it (the practice) goes, the faster they fail,” Quimby instructed Reuters. “They cease heating up in the event that they cease the practice.”