National Transportation Safety Board investigators have singled out the rail car that initiated East Palestine’s devastating derailment, and they are continuing to investigate the cause.
NTSB, in an update Tuesday, said surveillance video obtained from a residence showed what appears to be a “wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment.”
The wheelset will undergo metallurgical examination, and the overheated wheel bearing also will be examined by engineers from the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington, D.C., the update stated.
NTSB expects to issue a more complete preliminary report in about two weeks. Once the decontamination of tank cars is finished, NTSB investigators will return to the site to complete a thorough examination of the tank cars.
Top fittings from the vinyl chloride tank cars have been removed for examination, then they will be shipped to Texas for testing, officials said.
The investigation touched off following the Feb. 3 derailment that included several cars hauling hazardous chemicals. The derailed train caught fire and led to evacuations of thousands of people for several days.
The report states “38 rail cars derailed and a fire ensued which damaged an additional 12 cars. There were 20 total hazardous material cars in the train consist — 10 of which derailed. A list of what the derailed rail cars were carrying is available online. There were no reported fatalities or injuries.”
The list in the hazardous class included flammable gases vinyl chloride and isobutylene, flammable liquids benzene and butyl acrylates, combustible liquids ethylene glycol mono butyl ether and ethylhexyl acrylate. Other items on the list included polyethylene, petroleum lube oil, polypropyl glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, petro oil, dipropylene glycol, semolina, polyvinyl, fuel additives, sheet steel, frozen vegetables, paraffin wax, powder flakes, hydraulic cement, passenger autos and malt liquids.
The email states the “NTSB is conducting a safety investigation to determine the probable cause of the derailment and issue any safety recommendations, if necessary, to prevent future derailments. The NTSB can also issue urgent recommendations at any point during the investigation. All questions regarding the safety investigation should go to NTSB.”
The update said emergency response will be a factor in the investigation, but noted the NTSB is not involved in air monitoring, testing of water quality, environmental remediation or the evacuation orders.
See press conferences on the derailment from the NTSB YouTube channel.Parties providing technical assistance in the NTSB investigation include: U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and Federal Railroad Administration, Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Village of East Palestine, Norfolk Southern Railway, Trinity Industries Leasing Company, GATX Corporation, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
NTSB board member Michael Graham hosted two press briefings last week in East Palestine. During the Feb. 5 press conference, Graham said members of the three-member train crew — the engineer, conductor and conductor trainee — were interviewed. None of them was injured and no injuries were reported at the scene.
Graham said “the crew did receive an alarm from a wayside defect detector shortly before the derailment indicating the mechanical issue, then an emergency brake application initiated.”
At the time, he said two videos obtained by NTSB showed preliminary indications of a possible mechanical issue with one of the rail-car axles.
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