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Pete Buttigieg slams Norfolk Southern amid criticism over his response to Ohio train derailment

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Embattled Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a scathing letter to Norfolk Southern on Sunday, accusing the railway company whose train derailed in Ohio earlier this month of putting profits over safety.

Buttigieg’s three-page letter to the company came as he’s been chided by lawmakers and residents in the small town of East Palestine over his response to the devastating Feb. 3 derailment of the freight train carrying toxic chemicals.

The letter urged Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw to “demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of East Palestine amid fears from residents that their air and drinking water has been contaminated following what officials called a controlled burn of the chemicals.

The derailment “has upended the lives of numerous [East Palestine] residents, many of whom continue to worry about their immediate health and safety as well as the long-term effects of the dangerous materials released near their homes,” Buttigieg’s letter states.

Buttigieg, who has faced calls for impeachment and his resignation over his handling of the crisis, told Shaw that East Palestine residents “are not satisfied with the information, presence, and support they are getting from Norfolk Southern in the aftermath and recovery.”

The former South Bend, Ind. mayor vowed: “to hold Norfolk Southern responsible for any safety violations found to have contributed to this derailment.”


Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg slammed Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw in a letter after the company's train derailed and spilled chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio earlier this month.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg slammed Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw.
AP Photo/John Minchillo

Buttigieg called out other derailments of Norfolk Southern trains and accused the company of spending millions of dollars lobbying against “common-sense safety regulations.” 

“While we do not yet know what the NTSB investigation will conclude regarding what caused the derailment in East Palestine, we do know that these steps that Norfolk Southern and its peers lobbied against were intended to improve rail safety and to help keep Americans safe. The people of East Palestine cannot be forgotten, nor can their pain be simply considered the cost of doing business,” Buttigieg wrote. 

Buttigieg, who vied for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, accused Norfolk Southern of choosing to boost profits for shareholders over investing in safety.

Cleanup continuing in East Palestine on February 18, 2023 after the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train.
Cleanup continued in East Palestine on Feb. 18, 2023, after the derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train.
TANNEN MAURY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Buttigieg urged Shaw to “demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of East Palestine in the letter.
Buttigieg urged Shaw to “demonstrate unequivocal support for the people” of East Palestine in the letter.
TANNEN MAURY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock


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Volunteers distributing bottled water to residents amid fears that the drinking water in the town was contaminated.
Volunteers distributed bottled water to residents amid fears that the drinking water in the town was contaminated by the chemical spill.
TANNEN MAURY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock


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“Yours is an exceptionally profitable business. Norfolk Southern’s operating income was an astonishing $4.8 billion in 2022 — approaching a 37.8% operating margin. The income is 8% higher, or $362 million more in profit, compared to 2021. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that over the past five years, Norfolk Southern paid shareholders nearly $18 billion through stock buybacks and dividends -reportedly twice as much as the amount Norfolk Southern invested in its railways and operations,” Buttigieg wrote.

“The arithmetic suggests Norfolk Southern can remain extremely profitable while also complying with a higher standard of safety regulation and offering better consideration to its workers,” he added. 

The transportation secretary said he will call on Congress to raise fines against railroad companies that violate safety regulations “to ensure their deterrent effect is commensurate with the economic proportions of today’s large railroad companies.” 


Buttigieg warned Shaw that he will hold Norfolk Southern responsible if any safety violations were discovered.
Buttigieg warned Shaw that he would hold Norfolk Southern responsible if any safety violations were discovered.
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Shaw visited East Palestine on Saturday for a second time since the derailment.

In a statement, he said East Palestine leaders and residents are “frustrated by the amount of misinformation circulating about their community and are eager to show that the air and water are safe.” 


Follow The Post’s coverage of the Ohio train derailment


Shaw added that he is “deeply sorry” for what the community is experiencing and vowed to “do the right things” to help East Palestine recover. 

“I want residents of East Palestine to know that Norfolk Southern will be in their community to help for as long as needed,” Shaw said in a statement issued by the company on Monday, which added that Norfolk Southern has committed more than $5.6 million to the community since the accident. 


Sen. Marco Rubio called on President Biden to fire Buttigieg over his response to the derailment.
Sen. Marco Rubio called for President Biden to fire Buttigieg over his response to the derailment.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

In a letter sent to President Biden last week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) demanded that the 80-year-old commander-in-chief fire Buttigieg over his handling of the train derailment. 

The Florida Republican argued that Buttigieg’s response to calamity is just the latest example of behavior that demonstrates a “gross level of incompetence and apathy” that is putting the safety of Americans at risk.

“For two years, Secretary Buttigieg downplayed and ignored crisis after crisis, while prioritizing topics of little relevance to our nation’s transportation system. It is painfully clear to the American people that Secretary Buttigieg has little regard for the duties of the Secretary of Transportation,” Rubio writes in the letter.


Rep. Warren Davidson said Buttigieg may have to be impeached for the disastrous response.
Rep. Warren Davidson said Buttigieg could be impeached for the disastrous response.
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) on Friday suggested that Buttigieg could be impeached over the fiasco if he doesn’t resign. 

“I hope [Buttigieg] does resign, and if he doesn’t, you know, there’s a long list of impeachment criteria. I never would have thought we’d see a point where we need to impeach a secretary of Transportation, but doggone, how many failures have to happen on his watch before we call it?” Davidson said during an interview with conservative outlet Real America’s Voice. 

Buttigieg’s first public comments on the disaster didn’t come until Feb. 13, ten days after the derailment, when he tweeted about his concern over the accident.



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