Last month's toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, will be front and center on Capitol Hill Thursday morning during a Senate hearing into the incident and its impact on local residents.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw is expected to tell the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that he is "deeply sorry" for the derailment, which has thrust his freight rail company into the public spotlight.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, will blast the "partisan" response to the crisis in his state, according to part of his opening testimony obtained by Fox News Digital.
He’s one of three senators testifying in the first round of the high-profile hearing being conducted by the Environment and Public Works Committee. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Brown’s fellow Ohioan in Congress’ upper chamber, is also set to appear along with neighboring Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.
The second-round panel will feature Shaw along with regional officials at the Environmental Protection Agency and others.
A freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, spurring environmental and health concerns among residents there and nearby parts of Pennsylvania.
Residents have been voicing worries about the health risks after hazardous chemicals that the train was carrying were burned at the site, sending a plume of thick black smoke into the sky. Many have reported symptoms like nausea and dizziness despite state and local officials’ insistence that air and water levels remain safe.
