Mr. Shaw is also set to testify before a key Senate committee next week as lawmakers and state officials demand more information about what led to the derailment and the possible long-term effects on the region’s environment and public health.
“You’re going to determine the finish line — you’re going to determine when it’s made right,” said Representative Bill Johnson, Republican of Ohio, who pledged a separate House hearing on the environmental response, along with a field hearing in the region.
President Biden, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday after meeting with Senate Democrats, said that he “would be out there at some point” when asked if he would visit Ohio. He also confirmed that he would support legislation championed by the state’s two senators — Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and J.D. Vance, a Republican — and other lawmakers that would toughen railway safety regulations.
Both residents and rail workers have focused their concerns on the possibility of harmful exposure to the train’s cargo, which included vinyl chloride, a flammable gas, and any other chemicals that seeped into the community. In the days after the derailment, residents complained about migraines, rashes and a persisting chemical odor, even as preliminary data from government officials did not show significant levels of vinyl chloride or other dangerous chemicals.
On Wednesday, Jonathon Long, the chairman of the union branch that represents Norfolk Southern employees, including those helping clean up the site of the derailment, wrote to Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio condemning the railroad company and its treatment of its workers. He said that he had been told that some of the workers were not given appropriate protective gear to wear, despite the threat of possible exposure, and that others had continued to complain about migraines and nausea days after the derailment.
A spokesperson for the railroad company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday but previously told CNBC that the company had “coordinated our response with hazardous material professionals who were on site continuously to ensure the work area was safe to enter,” along with using required protective equipment.
As of Thursday, about 2.1 million gallons of wastewater and 1,400 tons of solid waste have been hauled away from the site of the derailment, according to data provided by Mr. DeWine’s office. Out of tests done on 151 private well systems, 57 samples have been verified and do not show worrisome contaminant levels, matching similar results from the municipal water systems.
Lisa Friedman contributed reporting.
