Yet Another Norfolk Southern Train Derails in Ohio, Just A Month After the Toxic Crash In East Palestine

Yet another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio on Saturday — thankfully without hazardous materials on board.

Roughly 20 of the train’s 212 cars derailed around 4:45 pm on Saturday near Springfield in Clark County, making it the fourth incident of its kind in the state in the last five months. No one was reported injured, Clark County officials said in a statement on Facebook.

Clark County briefly issued a shelter-in-place order for residents near the derailment site, but it was lifted on Sunday morning.

While the statement said there was no hazardous material, two tankers contained diesel exhaust fuel and while two tankers contained polyacrylamide water solution—both of which “are common industrial products shipped via railroad.” The statement continued, “The derailment is not in an area with a protected water source, meaning there is no risk to public water systems or private wells at this time, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.”

A number of local state and federal leaders have been quick to speak out about the latest derailment.

“It’s clear that [Norfolk Southern’s] greed and incompetence always takes precedent (sic) over making their workers safe and making communities safe that they go through,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown told ABC host  George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.

“These trains carrying hazardous material will come into Ohio and they don’t have to notify the state that they’re here, they don’t have to notify local fire departments…So the railroads continue to hold back information,” Brown continued. “The railroads continue to enrich their executives at the expense of public safety and public health.”

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg swiftly reacted to this incident following harsh criticism after his slow response to the train derailment in East Palestine last month. He tweeted on Saturday: “I have been briefed by [Federal Railroad Administration] leadership and spoke with Gov. DeWine to offer our support after the derailment today in Clark County, Ohio. No hazardous material release has been reported, but we will continue to monitor closely and FRA personnel are en route.”