Oops, I Did It Again: Another Norfolk Southern Derails in US, Company Claims 'No Hazmat Situation'

The derailed train belongs to the same railway company whose toxic chemical-laden train caused an environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month.

US freight railroad company Norfolk Southern has made yet another contribution to the rail safety statistics in the United States as one of their trains derailed in the state of North Carolina on Saturday.

According to local media reports, the derailment occurred when the train was passing through the city of Lexington, with a spokesperson for the company saying that only one set of wheels out of the 132 cars comprising the train got derailed.

"There are no reports of a hazmat situation or danger to the public. Our crew is safe and additional personnel are on their way to begin cleanup," the spokesperson told a US media outlet. "We appreciate the public’s patience and care near this area during the cleanup work."

The company representative, however, did not specify exactly what cargo the train was transporting and whether that payload may pose a potential danger for the people living near the derailment site.

This development occurred a little over three weeks after a Norfolk Southern train loaded with hazardous chemicals derailed near the village of East Palestine in Ohio on February 3.

The Ohio derailment led to what appears to be a full-blown environmental disaster. While authorities attempted to dispose of the toxic vinyl chloride the train was carrying via controlled burn, many locals complained that this move effectively resulted in the contamination of soil and water sources in the area.

The Lexington derailment also takes place nearly two years since US President Joe Biden called for several hundred billion dollars to be invested into the transportation infrastructure in the United States as part of his Build Back Better agenda.