With Yost’s Departure, Newly appointed Ohio Attorney General Faces Crossroads In Final Months
STATEWIDE - On Thursday, without much notification, AG Dave Yost gave notice to the Governor’s office of his resignation to join the Alliance Defending Freedom as its Vice President of Strategic Research and Innovation. Now, DeWine has appointed an interim position that many are wondering could tie into state level action against one of the most egregious crimes against Ohioans in recent memory.
Without much more than a short letter outlining his intent to vacate the post, Dave Yost effectively stepped away from politics to join the conservative think tank, Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF. Yesterday, DeWine named his replacement, former Director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS), Andy Wilson. Many may recall Wilson as a key role in representing the state’s involvement in the crisis operation.
Wilson is listed as being involved in many command level decisions, including being present for the briefings that led to the decision to vent and burn the vinyl chloride train cars that led to widespread dioxin contamination of the immediate area and smaller scale contamination in wider territories across the state.
It has now been revealed that the information provided by Norfolk Southern on the dangers of the vinyl chloride risk of combustion was factually incorrect. High level inquiry has labeled the information ‘incomplete’ rather than misleading to avoid ascribing fault or blame on the company for its decision to only provide misleading information.
However, hearing testimony has revealed that the company that owned the car contents, Oxy Vinyl, was onsite in incident command, where Wilson was stationed, informing decision makers that the tankers were cooling and venting/burning was not necessary and potentially posed additional risk. According to that same testimony, Governor DeWine was not informed of this information. While some have regarded the appointment of Wilson as a move to potentially promote an ‘in-crowd’ candidate, available information points to a potential crossroads for the administration in its final months.
Based on testimony from all parties, Oxy Vinyl was regularly kept out of high level decision making meetings, including the presentation by Norfolk Southern to provide misleading information to the local fire chief. According to Wilson, he and the governor were not even aware they were on site. During his tenure with the ODPS, a 58 point lawsuit was filed against Norfolk Southern for environmental and safety violations related to the incident. Wilson’s appointment to Attorney General puts him in a unique position to prosecute a case against one of Ohio’s biggest criminal enterprises and environmental violators to date.
Members of the community remain skeptical though, citing the often incestuous relationship Ohio regulatory bodies often have with the companies they monitor and the motivations members in the government may have had to ignore safety and prioritize economic impact of slowing down rail transportation for a more effective cleanup.
Regardless, the newly appointed interim AG may be standing at a crossroads, on the one side is the ability to further prosecute one of the biggest substantive crimes against Ohioans in recent history, on the other; a lame duck placeholder.
Below are attached hearing testimony documents for download
