The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a legally binding order requiring the company to identify and clean up contaminated soil and water, reimburse the EPA for the cleaning it is doing and attend public meetings at the agency’s request, according to a press release from the agency.
“Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess that they created and the trauma that they inflicted on this community,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said during a press conference Tuesday.
Regan was joined at the conference by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who indicated there could be additional legal action to come.
In particular, Shapiro said the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection made a criminal referral over the derailment to the state’s attorney general. DeWine said Ohio’s attorney general would take “whatever action that Ohio law allows him to take.”
Norfolk Southern shared a statement with The Hill saying the company has already been paying for cleanup activities and will continue to do so.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Department on Tuesday outlined its own plans for rail safety.
The department intends to advance a rule requiring at least two crew members for most railroad operations, start a safety inspection program for trains that carry hazardous materials and pursue “further rulemaking” on brakes and high-hazard trains.
