Washington State lawmaker investigates Union Pacific’s alleged safety audit interference

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who heads up a powerful Senate transportation committee, has launched an investigation into charges by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that Union Pacific Railroad interfered with its safety assessments.

Specifically, the FRA found that Union Pacific employees company wide — regardless of craft or employment location across 23 states — had been coached to provide specific responses to FRA safety inspector surveys and to report the interactions they had with FRA inspectors to their supervisors.

“I am deeply concerned about these FRA findings and the chilling effect the Union Pacific actions have on employee reporting of safety issues,” wrote Cantwell in a July 25 letter sent to Union Pacific Railroad President Beth Whited.

The senator pointed out that the FRA informed the committee that two weeks into the agency’s audit, it was forced to discontinue its assessment due to Union Pacific’s actions to undermine the integrity of the assessment process, which is part of the agency’s larger effort to conduct safety culture assessments of all Class I railroads operating in the United States.

The assessments were done partially in response to facts uncovered as part of the FRA’s investigation into Norfolk Southern’s East Palestine, Ohio, derailment in February 2023 that released toxic chemicals into the environment following what the National Safety Transportation Board determined was an unnecessary vent and burn.

“In a written response to FRA about its findings, you attributed the [safety audit] interference to a single employee,” Cantwell wrote Whited. “While the findings appear to demonstrate otherwise, I remain concerned that even one Union Pacific employee would find it acceptable to manipulate the results of an audit conducted by federal safety inspectors.

“Furthermore,” she wrote, “I worry this is an indication of a weak safety culture, especially in light of Union Pacific’s derailment rate, which is the highest of any Class I railroad — 30 percent higher than the next highest Class I railroad’s derailment rate, and 43 percent above average overall.”

To assist the transportation committee in its oversight efforts related to rail safety, Cantwell called on Whited to provide all documentation and communication within Union Pacific regarding the FRA’s safety culture audit, along with the company’s current policies and plans to improve its safety culture and ensure employees can report safety problems without fear of retaliation.

The information is to be provided to her no later than Aug. 9, according to Cantwell’s letter.

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