Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Wednesday slammed Norfolk Southern Corp.’s NSC handling of a February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.”I think they’ve handled it terribly…they were tone deaf,” Buffett told CNBC in an interview from Japan. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.ABRK.B owns rival railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe, or BNSF. No one was killed or injured in the Ohio derailment, but the incident has been described as a “PR nightmare” for Norfolk Southern and the rail industry. The derailed cars included 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials that subsequently ignited, damaging an additional 12 railcars, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, and setting off concerns about the impact on air and water quality and dangers to health in the region. In late March, a BNSF train hauling ethanol and corn syrup, derailed and caught fire in the town of Raymond, Minnesota, roughly 100 miles west of Minneapolis, prompting the temporary evacuation of the town’s 800 residents. BNSF CEO Katie Farmer attended a news conference with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the derailment and apologized for the incident. Norfolk Southern didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Buffett’s remarks. (James Rogers contributed reporting to this article).
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