EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) 鈥� Norfolk Southern has agreed to exclusively use Ohio-based businesses to clean up the site of a fiery train derailment last month in a small town near the Pennsylvania state line.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made the announcement Wednesday. Yost said he thought it a good idea that the railroad hire statewide businesses to do the work, which could take two years to complete.
No one was injured in the , but concerns over a potential explosion led state and local officials to from five tanker cars that forced the evacuations of half the village and closed schools for a week.
Fifteen Ohio-based companies are already involved in the ongoing cleanup. Under the agreement announced by Yost, Norfolk Southern would be allowed to select an out-of-state vendor in the unlikely case that no Ohio companies have the expertise to complete specific work.
The Associated Press
