Norfolk Southern slammed as greedy, ignorant by Pennsylvania lawmakers
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers are increasingly sounding off about the horrific Feb. 3 train derailment just over the state line in Ohio, calling railway company Norfolk Southern an “ignorant” exemplar of corporate greed — and some will take part in a public hearing next week in Beaver County.
State Sen. Katie Muth, D-Montgomery, the ranking Democrat on the Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee, said she’s worried about Pennsylvanians who live near the state line. The train derailed in East Palestine, just on the other side of the Ohio border.
The controlled release of toxic chemicals from several train cars following the derailment has left people in East Palestine and beyond fearful of the health consequences, even as officials offer assurances that the air and water are safe.
“There is severe concern that people could have long-term health effects,” Muth said, citing things she has read from subject experts.
State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, the committee chairman, has scheduled a joint public hearing with the Senate Transportation Committee to scrutinize the derailment and the response to it. The hearing is set for 10 a.m. Thursday at Community College of Beaver County.
Mastriano said in a statement that testimony would come from Norfolk Southern, state and local officials, and citizens.
At least five lawsuits have been filed after the derailment of about 50 train cars, including at least 10 carrying hazardous materials, and the associated spill, fires and release of chemicals.
State House Speaker Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, lambasted Norfolk Southern on Friday and called images from the derailment site heartbreaking.
“The people of East Palestine and the surrounding areas, including western Beaver County in Pennsylvania, don’t deserve to live in fear of breathing the air outside their homes or drinking the water that comes out of their faucet,” Rozzi said in a statement.
The blame for the “environmental disaster” should be placed on corporate greed and efforts to diminish regulations, he said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who slammed the company in a letter earlier this week, indicated support for a legislative hearing. Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder said Friday that the governor’s discussions with lawmakers led to “broad agreement on the need to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.”
State Sen. Elder Vogel, R-Beaver, whose district includes a part of Beaver County only about a quarter-mile from the derailment site, said the company’s decision not to attend a community meeting Wednesday in East Palestine was “just being ignorant.”
Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw, in an open letter to residents posted on the company’s website, said, “I know you also have questions about whether Norfolk Southern will be here to help make things right. My simple answer is that we are here and will stay here for as long as it takes to ensure your safety and to help East Palestine recover and thrive.”
In skipping Wednesday’s meeting, the company said in a statement that it had 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.”
Vogel said he’s concerned by Norfolk Southern’s attitude. He has dealt with the company in the past, he said, and the message typically has been “you don’t touch their tracks.” Vogel noted that the train was about 150 cars long and weighed 18,000 tons.
“Everybody is trying to be more efficient and do things faster,” he said. “But safety still has to be taken care of.”
State Rep. Jim Marshall, R-Beaver, said many of his constituents are concerned “either due to no information or misinformation.”
“We can learn from this how to get information out to residents in a timely fashion and work across agencies,” Marshall said.
He said there should be a “central point” for collecting and disseminating information.
State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, said the hearing was needed to better understand the causes of the derailment and the response that followed. She said she shares many of the concerns Shapiro expressed Tuesday in a letter to Shaw.
Shapiro said in the letter that Norfolk Southern created confusion by failing to implement a unified command structure during the incident response; that it gave “inaccurate information and conflicting modeling” about chemical releases from derailed cars; and that its unwillingness to discuss strategies other than its “vent and burn” approach limited the ability of public officials to respond.
On Friday, Bonder said the administration is staying on top of “anything that is worrying people on the ground.”
That includes water quality.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is carrying out independent water testing to monitor for contamination risks related to the derailment. A DEP statement said the agency is also helping “concerned water suppliers” evaluate their source water at Beaver Falls Municipal Water Authority’s surface water intake, on the Beaver River.
“Leading our own independent testing now will give us a necessary baseline so that we can track any changes to Pennsylvanians’ water in the months ahead,” said Rich Negrin, the acting DEP secretary.
Thus far, DEP said, the state has seen no concerning air or water quality samples since the derailment.
Separately, another public hearing is set for 10 a.m. Feb. 27 in the state Capitol in Harrisburg. State Sen. Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, the Transportation Committee chairman, said it would be a fact-finding session on the transportation of hazardous materials in Pennsylvania.
Muth said a priority at the hearing scheduled for Thursday should be “the safety measures that failed and the emergency responses that failed and what should happen in the future to make it better.”