September 25, 2026

Reps. Sykes Statement Following East Palestine Whistleblower Reports

WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Representatives Emilia Sykes (OH-13) released the following statement after The Wall Street Journal reported that a whistleblower, working for a contractor hired by Norfolk Southern to share data with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was pressured to report incorrect information to conceal contamination and the severity of the environmental impact of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in February of 2023.
 
Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal article:
 
A former environmental scientist who responded to Norfolk Southern’s 2023 Ohio derailment said the contractors she worked for took numerous steps to conceal contamination, from pressuring her to dismiss test results and report “zeros” to concealing animal deaths…
 
She said a variety of CTEH’s practices were aimed at minimizing reports of contamination. Managers improperly calibrated testing equipment and questioned results showing elevated contamination, Dixon said in her affidavit, while equipment that recorded contamination was taken out of use…Company managers omitted some elevated chemical readings from testing reports, Dixon said, and they told workers who produced too many detections they would be sent home.
 
Dixon alleges that CTEH told workers to conceal animal carcasses found near creeks and in woods. She said she saw more than two dozen dead animals, including raccoons and beavers…
 
In East Palestine, Dixon said she registered volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, inside a home that sits above a creek at 2 parts per million, well above the level that triggered response teams to investigate and take action. A manager suggested her equipment might be malfunctioning or needed to be recalibrated, cleaned or swapped out, but she insisted on filing a report, Dixon said.
 
“I am deeply concerned about whistleblower reports that the full extent of contamination from the tragic train derailment in 2023 has not been accurately reported,” said Rep. Sykes. “I urge the Office of the Inspector General to conduct a thorough investigation. Congress must review the Inspector General’s report once completed and take a close look at the accuracy of data reported by contractors selected and paid by the party responsible for contamination.
 
“I have repeatedly stated that public safety is a nonpartisan issue that transcends political boundaries, that’s why I’ve introduced my bipartisan RAIL Act to codify safety standards into law. Despite these efforts, Congressional Republicans have continually blocked the implementation of rail safety legislation. Americans living close to our nation's 140,000 miles of railroad track, especially those in East Palestine, deserve action to prevent a disastrous derailment from happening again.”
 
Following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in 2023, which sent toxic chemicals into the area's air, soil, and creeks, Rep. Sykes introduced the Reducing Accidents in Locomotives (RAIL) Act.
 
The RAIL Act would further improve railway safety and operations by:
  • Directing the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate new rules to improve safety based off the findings of the NTSB investigation in conjunction with the Federal Railroad Administration
  • Codifying the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) two-person crew rule into law
  • Increasing inspections on all trains, including those carrying hazardous materials
  • Requiring railroad corporations to provide notification in advance to pertinent to State emergency response commissioners, tribal emergency response commission, or any other State or tribal agency regarding the transportation of hazardous materials
  • Strengthening requirements pertaining to safety placards that would have assisted emergency responders in identifying the hazardous materials in the rail cars on-site
  • Strengthening regulations to prevent wheel bearing failures, which caused the East Palestine train derailment
  • Increasing maximum penalties for violations of rail safety regulations
  • Increasing funding for Hazardous Materials Training for First Responders
  • Auditing federal rail inspection programs.
Ohio, which has one of the country’s largest railroad networks, ranks third worst in the nation for serious train accidents and hazardous materials spills. From 2019 through November 2022, 281 train accidents occurred in Ohio.