National rail company faces a minimal penalty for 2020 coal dumping in Roanoke River
Norfolk Southern, a national rail company, will pay Virginia a mere $27,300 following a train derailment in 2020 that dumped more than 1,300 tons of coal into the Roanoke River.
Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality released a report outlining the impact of the accident and the penalties Norfolk Southern would incur. The incident occurred on October 30, 2020, when 26 cars carrying approximately 2,600 tons of coal derailed on a train bridge over the Roanoke River west of Salem, Virginia. As a result, 16 cars ended up in the river below, with the coal swept downstream due to recent rain and high waters at the time.
Norfolk Southern managed to remove 1,349 tons of coal from the river in the weeks following the derailment. However, the nearby Salem Water Treatment Plant, located 3.4 miles downstream from the site, had to shut down for a month until the coal was cleaned up or removed from the area.
Although Norfolk Southern agreed to the $27,000 penalty and signed the consent order in February, environmental groups criticized VDEQ’s decision, claiming that the law would have permitted a much more severe fine. The Virginia Sierra Club noted that at least 12 cars spilled into the Roanoke River on the day of the incident, suggesting that Virginia’s penalty should be increased tenfold. Furthermore, the organization suggested that for a corporation as large as Norfolk Southern, another tenfold penalty should be added to ensure that all railroad companies take precautions to avoid future coal discharges.
The recent $27,000 fine comes in the wake of another train derailment caused by Norfolk Southern in Ohio, which prompted the evacuation of an entire town and resulted in the burning of several tons of toxic chemicals. As a result, Norfolk Southern has faced intense scrutiny over its safety practices. The company’s safety record and response to environmental disasters have raised concerns, and authorities have called for more significant consequences in response to such incidents.
This incident highlights the importance of safety measures and appropriate measures to prevent industrial disasters that can have severe environmental and public health consequences. Companies should prioritize safety and environmental considerations over profits to prevent such incidents and minimize their impact.
