West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito met with media Thursday. Following Wednesday night's town hall that was not attended by Norfolk Southern, NEWS9’s Jaime Baker asked her how they will be held accountable in the derailment.
“Norfolk Southern will pay for this, both monetarily and probably in other ways, in turn,” Capito said. “I think that is a given. And if they don't, I think that the powers that be - Congress and otherwise - will come in with a heavy head there.
“To be perfectly honest with you, I think they made a major mistake in not going to that town hall meeting. I think unless the threats were way, way over the top, I think there's ways to protect yourself in a meeting. I think people want to talk to you, want to tell you, they want you to listen. I think Alan Shaw will probably regret that decision. But we'll wait and see what his explanation is, but I thought it was the wrong move for the company, I really do.”
Capito was asked about the possibility of change regulations in the wake of the incident.
“I've been active on rail safety issues throughout my career,” Capito said. “I think there is a question about the braking systems. I don't know if changing the braking systems would have had an impact on this or not because I think they tried to brake but they didn't have enough time to stop a 150-car train. I think also maybe the parameters around carrying hazardous materials, I think that is another area that is being looked at and I’m certainly open to that "
NEWS9 reached out to Senator Joe Manchin's
office and have yet to respond.
