Officials of Norfolk Southern Railway scheduled to attend a Wednesday community meeting near East Palestine, Ohio, where one of their trains derailed causing a chemical explosion that forced residents to evacuate, backed out at the last moment citing threats to their safety, CNN reports.
The corporation, which has a market cap north of $50 billion, offered $25,000 to help the displaced citizens of the town and surrounding area impacted by the explosion of railcars carrying numerous chemicals including vinyl chloride.
“We have become increasingly concerned about the growing physical threat to our employees and members of the community around this event stemming from the increasing likelihood of the participation of outside parties,” the company said in a release.