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The National Transportation Safety Board will start taking sworn testimony Thursday as part of its probe into the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.<\/a><\/p>\n The agency is holding an investigative hearing on Thursday and Friday in East Palestine, where a Norfolk Southern Railway train carrying toxic chemicals derailed on Feb. 3, resulting in the release of hazardous materials into the air, soil and creeks in the area.<\/p>\n A preliminary NTSB report<\/a> released in the weeks following the incident found that a wheel bearing failed moments before 38 cars derailed in the incident — including 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials that subsequently ignited.<\/p>\n Five of the tank cars contained 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride, a highly volatile colorless gas produced for commercial uses. Responders subsequently conducted an hourslong controlled release and burn of the vinyl chloride, causing a large ball of fire and sending a plume of black smoke filled with contaminants into the air.<\/p>\n The two-day hearing, described as a “fact-finding step” in the NTSB’s safety investigation, is expected to focus on the communications and preparedness for the initial emergency response, what led to the decision to vent and burn the vinyl chloride tank cars, and the freight car bearing failure modes and wayside detection systems, among other topics.<\/p>\n Witnesses, who will testify under oath, will include representatives of Norfolk Southern, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Ohio National Guard and several local fire and police departments, the NTSB said<\/a>. A hearing agenda, including witnesses scheduled to testify, is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those able to ask witnesses questions include NTSB’s board members and investigative staff and designated parties, including the Norfolk Southern Corporation, Federal Railroad Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and Village of East Palestine.<\/p>\n The NTSB will use the information gathered during the hearing to “complete the investigation, determine probable cause, and make recommendations to improve transportation safety,” the agency said. Its full investigation could take up to 18 months from the date of the accident to complete, it said.<\/p>\n “The communities most affected by this tragedy deserve as much insight as possible into our investigation, which is why we’re holding an investigative hearing in East Palestine,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a statement. “While we unfortunately cannot change what happened that day, our entire agency is committed to carrying out our mission, which doesn’t end when we get to the bottom of what happened and why it happened — we’ll also work vigorously to prevent it from ever happening again.”<\/p>\n