SANDUSKY, Ohio — Senator Sherrod Brown called for Norfolk Southern to take accountability Thursday afternoon in Sandusky.
A Norfolk Southern train carrying paraffin wax derailed on Oct. 8 and crashed onto a stretch of Sandusky’s busy Columbus Avenue. Sandusky officials said the train began running again within 48 hours, but the road remained closed.
Now, six months after the derailment, Columbus Avenue’s underpass is still partly closed and Sandusky leaders are hopeful political pressure will force Norfolk Southern to step up and help out.
Dick Brady is the president of Sandusky’s city commission.
“Most of the people rely on this road to get to and from,” he said. “Having our main artery in the city of Sandusky closed, for almost six months now, is quite a burden for all of our residents.”
On Thursday, Aaron Klein, the city’s director of public works, relayed to Brown just how burdensome the closed road has been.
“It’s been horrible for businesses. It’s been horrible for residents. It’s been horrible for tourists,” said Klein.
Brady said city leaders tried to get Norfolk Southern to help with the cleanup and reopening of Columbus Avenue, but weren’t getting much response, so they hired a contracting firm themselves. He estimated the total cost of the project starts at $750,000.
“We were so frustrated with the vague response or lack of response from the railroad,” he said. “ We are somewhat rolling the dice whether we’ll be compensated for it but we just can’t wait. It’s not fair to our residents.”
One portion of the underpass did re-open, but the other remains closed.
Brown said he’s been taking note of the damage train derailments can leave in their wake.
“They compromise safety and there aren’t enough men and women spending time doing track inspections, there’s the wheel bearing problem that is causing most of their accidents,” said Brown. “Norfolk Southern continues to promise they’re going to fix things and they simply haven’t stepped up. They haven’t done yet what they said they will do.”
Brown added Sandusky is another prime example of why he is hoping for swift passage of his bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023 bill, which aims to improve rail safety protocols and stand up to railroad company lobbyists.
“They have great lobbyists. They have great PR operations. They got away with far too much and the public always pays,” he said.
A Norfolk Southern spokesperson sent News 5 this response to our request for comment:
"We’ve been in constant communication with city officials and have committed to reimbursing for costs incurred as a result of the derailment, in addition to performing whatever work we have been able to through our own contractors. We’ve also been in constant contact with local businesses that were affected on any claims they’ve had as well.
"Most importantly – we know these things take time, and appreciate the community’s patience. We’ll continue to work closely with them until the job is done."
He added that the city of Sandusky has yet to invoice them for the amount of the repair, but Klein said otherwise.
“Our contractor has sent invoices, one invoice, the first invoice and we’re still trying to get compensated for that,” he said.
He hopes that with added political pressure it will move the Columbus Aveune project to the fast track and Brown said he will make sure Sandusky receives compensation.
“The city has expended a good bit of money. We will make sure that Norfolk Southern pays them back for every dollar that the city taxpayers have spent,” said Brown.
Klein said the Columbus Ave. underpass should be fully open in May, and if they don't receive compensation upon completion, they will continue to bill the rail company.
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