(The following story by Larissa Theodore appeared on the New Brighton Times website on August 31.)
NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. — Big Rock Park in New Brighton was heavily damaged in 2006 when Norfolk Southern Railway Co. cars carrying ethanol tumbled from a trestle along the park and exploded.
Nearly two years later, Norfolk Southern is petitioning a National Transportation Safety Board investigation that concluded the accident was the result of the railroad company’s inadequate inspection and maintenance program.
In a formal petition filed Friday with the NTSB, Norfolk Southern asked the NTSB to re-examine and amend its conclusion based on new evidence, documentation and analysis submitted by Norfolk Southern.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, nearly a half-million gallons of ethanol seeped from the rail cars into the ground and the Beaver River on Oct. 20, 2006, after 23 rail cars passing over the track through New Brighton derailed. Some of the rail cars burst into flames, causing hundreds of nearby residents to be evacuated from their homes.
The NTSB concluded the train derailment happened “because Norfolk Southern did not have an adequate rail inspection and maintenance program.”
“They put the public, crew and environment at risk,” NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said at the time.
The NTSB also put some of the blame on the Federal Railroad Administration, saying its oversight and inspection requirements were inadequate.
But the railroad company is defending itself, saying the defect, which ultimately led to the derailment, was not detected by an ultrasonic test conducted nine weeks earlier because the defect either did not exist or was too small to be detected, according to the petition.
The NTSB’s findings and recommendations should be based upon the complete facts,” Tim Drake, Norfolk Southern’s vice president of engineering, said in a press release. “Based on the uncontroverted, scientifically-proven evidence Norfolk Southern has furnished, the NTSB lacks a factual basis to determine that our track and maintenance program is inadequate, and we urge the Board to correct its erroneous conclusions.”
Drake said Norfolk Southern has the lowest track-related accident rate among Class 1 railroads and tracks are inspected more frequently than the Federal Railroad Administration requires.
The NTSB could not be reached for comment.