On Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, exposing residents to severe hazardous materials which continue to impact their health to this day. In June, the National Transportation Safety Board disclosed the findings of its investigation of the derailment, which determined that the cause of the derailment was a defective wheel bearing. However, this technical issue does not tell the whole story – the story of an industry which exemplifies capitalism’s wanton destruction of human life in the pursuit of profit.
According to the NTSB, Norfolk Southern Railway and its contractors failed “to communicate relevant expertise and dissenting opinions to the incident commander” following the derailment. The NTSB also found that Norfolk Southern’s insistence “that the tank cars were at risk of catastrophic failure from a polymerization reaction” was inaccurate. This “created unwarranted urgency and led to the unnecessary decision to vent and burn five derailed vinyl chloride monomer tank cars to prevent a polymerization-induced tank car rupture.” In other words, the miles-high plume of toxic gas, the image which plastered every major media outlet, was avoidable.
The fact that the breached rail cars were DOT-111s, a model of tank car that is being phased out of use for transporting flammable liquids, also contributed to the severity of the disaster. The DOT-111 tank car, according to the NTSB, has a “long record of inadequate mechanical and thermal crashworthiness and propensity to release [its cargo] in a derailment.” In the case of East Palestine, flammable and combustible liquids were released after three tank cars were mechanically breached. When the liquids ignited, the fire spread and exposed other tank cars to heat. This led to the irresponsible decision to conduct a vent and burn on five tank cars carrying vinyl chloride. The result was a towering mushroom cloud that loomed over East Palestine and the surrounding area.
In addition, Norfolk Southern’s delay in transmitting the train consist information to emergency responders contributed to the exposure of responders and the public to post-derailment hazards which continue to seriously impact the people of East Palestine to this day.
Irresponsible business practices
For Norfolk Southern, this type of irresponsible behavior is par for the course. In 2002, the NTSB concluded its investigation of a derailment in Farragut, Tennessee, by noting that the lack of company procedures regarding reporting and handling of problems involving main track switches was a major factor in the accident.
Following a 2005 train crash in Graniteville, South Carolina — which caused the deaths of nine people by chlorine exposure — federal prosecutors sued Norfolk Southern over the accident’s environmental impact. After diesel fuel and more than 10 lbs of chlorine ran into Horse Creek in Graniteville, Norfolk Southern failed to notify the federal National Response Center in a timely manner, violated the Clean Water Act and additionally violated the federal Superfund law. State investigators found chemically burned vegetation as well as 1,800 yards of contaminated creek following the wreck, and at least 1,000 fish died from the chemical spill. In October 2022, a Norfolk Southern train derailed on a bridge in Sandusky, Ohio, blocking an Amtrak line, with debris and tank cars falling onto the street below.
While irresponsible business practices are to be expected from a company with a track record like Norfolk Southern, the company’s outright disregard for basic public safety and accountability can still leave regulators and researchers flabbergasted. According to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, Norfolk Southern interfered with the NTSB East Palestine investigation and abused its status as a party to the probe. Homendy called Norfolk Southern’s actions “unprecedented” and “reprehensible.” A private exchange with a senior company executive two weeks prior to the NTSB East Palestine board meeting ended with, according to Homendy, a threat from Norfolk Southern.
Exploitative working conditions
Though Norfolk Southern has consistently engaged in egregious behavior, including allegedly threatening the chair of a government investigative agency, the company is hardly different from other Class I railroad companies (the six largest freight railroad companies in North America), especially in regard to the treatment of workers. During the 2022 battle between rail workers and the Class I companies, reports of deplorable working conditions and draconian attendance policies were widely publicized. BNSF workers, for example, had to choose between work or attending funerals for loved ones, doctor appointments and time with their families as a result of an attendance policy that requires workers to be on call 90% of the time. Last spring, it was found that Union Pacific undermined government safety assessments of the railroads and retaliated against workers who reported rail car flaws.
It took immense pressure on the Class I carriers to even grant sick leave to railroad workers. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, only about five percent of Class I freight railroad workers had paid sick leave coverage at the end of 2022. Even so, the “labor-friendly” Biden administration was quick to block a national rail strike, and subsequently force a contract guaranteeing no sick days down the throats of rail workers. Though DOT reports that as of June 25, 90% of railroad workers have paid sick leave, this paid sick leave only exists on paper. For many railroad workers, the right to paid sick leave has still not been realized.
We must keep in mind that the dangerous problems with U.S. railroads are systemic. The Class I companies, and their owners, have shown that they are incapable of running a rail system that safely and effectively serves the needs of the public. In their pursuit of short-term profit, the Class I robber barons have all but strangled the railroad industry, leaving exhausted rail workers, brutalized trackside communities, cheated small shippers and other impacted groups in their wake. A rail system left in the hands of the Class I profiteers leaves the risk of catastrophic events for workers, trackside communities and the greater public unacceptably high.
The need for public ownership
The continued environmental degradation, deteriorating working conditions and certainty of future disasters akin to the derailment in East Palestine has spurred unions, environmental organizations and community activists to fight back by calling for the nationalization of the rail system. Railroad Workers United, a rank-and-file caucus of union railroad workers from across North America that gained wide recognition during the 2022 battle between rail unions and the Class I railroads, is spearheading a campaign for public ownership of the railroads. The campaign has been endorsed by United Electrical Workers, the Vermont AFL-CIO, the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council, and various locals from unions including the International Longshore and Warehouse Union the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, United Steel Workers, Service Employees International Union and others.
By linking the interests of workers, trackside communities, the environment and the general public, RWU and its allies are taking a critical step towards expropriating capitalist profiteers of the railroad industry. With mass public support, the struggle for public ownership of the rail system will be a large step on the long path of working class revolution.
Feature photo: “NTSB Investigative Hearing in East Palestine, Ohio” by NTSBgov is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.
