• Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw faced questions about who authorized the controlled burn at a Senate hearing on Thursday as Washington lawmakers held their first hearing on railroad safety about a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
• U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullins (R-OK) asked Shaw “when the vent and burn process was being made, who made those decisions and what were the considerations other than just burning it and letting the material burn off.”
• Shaw told the Senate committee that “the only consideration was the safety and health of the community and that the decision was made by a unified command under the direction of the incident commander.” Shaw did not identify the members of the unified command but that Norfolk Southern was one of them.

Tagged: Transportation