CLEVELAND — A Cleveland councilwoman says she has serious concerns about the train traffic coming through Ward 15 and all parts of the city in light of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Jenny Spencer said her Edgewater, Cudell and Detroit Shoreway neighborhoods experience some of the heaviest train traffic in the city, and she's calling on Norfolk Southern and other rail carriers to provide specific information on how many railcars are coming through the city, what they're carrying and in what quantities.
“It might be the case that lines that were going through less populated areas are now being consolidated and being sent through more densely populated urban centers," Spencer said. “That’s the core equation that Clevelanders need to have answered — has transport of hazardous materials increased in our neighborhoods?"
Spencer hopes to organize a hearing with federal regulators at Cleveland City Hall within the next two months, seeking answers about train traffic she believes local residents and first responders deserve, as the East Palestine derailment reveals more information on the status of railroad oversight.
“I think that federal agencies that provide regulation and oversight of the freight rail industry need to help provide us answers to that question,” Spencer said. "We're asking our first responders to put their bodies on the line when there is evidence that there’s been deregulation, less oversight and lack of communication in terms of what types of materials are being transported."
They are questions that were being asked by former Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone starting back in 2005. Zone said he and former Cleveland Council President Kevin Kelley followed up in 2020, passing an emergency resolution after he said the city discovered Norfolk Southern was stepping up the number of trains through Cleveland without any warning.
“What Norfolk Southern decided to arbitrarily do is reroute a lot of their hazardous cargo right through the heart of the City of Cleveland," Zone said. “It was an issue with the density of people, the important infrastructure like water plants, sewage plants, our fresh drinking water.”
Zone said while the resolution didn't trigger new federal regulations, it did increase awareness among residents and preparedness for first responders throughout Cuyahoga County.
“We did raise awareness; we did get the action of the county emergency planning committee that is made up of fire chiefs all throughout the county," Zone said. “Local government, state government can’t really regulate it because this is an interstate commerce issue when you’re moving product through multiple states, it’s regulated by the federal government. So, it ultimately takes the courage of the federal government.”
News 5 reached out to Norfolk Southern for this story, but it has so far not issued a response about train traffic numbers coming through Cleveland.
The company instead issued the following statement:
"The safety of our employees and the communities in which we operate is our number one priority. We diligently monitor our trains and infrastructure to identify potential hazards, and we invest approximately a billion annually into maintaining our infrastructure every year. To prepare for the rare instance of a significant incident, we work with hundreds of first responders across our network every year, providing training through NS’s Operation Awareness & Response. This program is hosted on a train outfitted with railcars converted into classrooms, as well as travelling with retired tank cars, allowing local firefighters and other first responders to receive hands-on training in their own community. In fact, any department in any community can request a Norfolk Southern hazmat expert to come to their community for tabletop training."
"As a common carrier, Norfolk Southern is required by law to carry a variety of materials used by businesses to manufacture goods. Much of that material is also transported by trucks on the highway, the main difference being that rail cars can hold a much larger volume. Rail cars are built, maintained, and inspected to standards set by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the Federal Railroad Administration. These standards are built on many years of research and continued refinement to railcar designs with safety in mind."
