(WKBN) – About 120 miles west of Youngstown, there’s another Ohio city that’s still dealing with a Norfolk Southern train derailment. It wasn’t the magnitude of the one in East Palestine, but it’s still causing an inconvenience.
On Oct. 8, a Norfolk Southern train derailed at the Columbus Avenue rail bridge in Sandusky.
According to Aaron Klein, Sandusky’s director of Public Works, the train spilled liquid paraffin wax, which made it into the city’s sewer system and hardened.
Norfolk Southern completed the cleanup of the wax but Columbus Avenue, which is a main road in and out of Sandusky, remains closed at the rail bridge.
We asked Klein if he was satisfied with the cooperation from Norfolk Southern.
“They act very accommodating but do not have a sense of urgency,” he said.
We also asked if Norfolk Southern promised to pay for all of the repairs.
“They did not promise to pay for all of the items that the city feels need to be repaired, but instead promised to pay for the items that they felt needed repaired,” Klein said.
We then asked if Norfolk Southern has followed through on its promise to pay for repairs.
“We have not yet billed for any time and materials but plan to do so soon,” Klein said.
Norfolk Southern has also released information on what is being done to assist East Palestine. More than $1 million has been distributed to 700 families to cover the cost of evacuating. The railroad donated $220,000 to the fire department to replace its air packs and provided 100 air purifiers for people to use in their homes.
Norfolk Southern also sampled wells that provide drinking water, the results of which will be available in the next week.