On Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) accused Norfolk Southern of mismanaging clean-up efforts in the wake of a recent derailment that sent toxic chemicals into the Ohio River Basin.
Shapiro complained that the decision to execute a “controlled burn” was made to facilitate a quick reopening of the railway and did not take into consideration the detrimental impact the plumes of smoke would have on local animal life, water supplies and soil.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has referred to the incident as an “ecological disaster.”
RTM previously reported that Norfolk Southern and state and federal authorities announced that tests on local water sources “have not revealed concerning levels of hazardous material.” However, there are widely circulated reports of fish and wildlife die-offs following the controlled burn.
The Daily Wire reported the Ohio Department of Agriculture announced the “food supply is safe, and the risk to livestock remains low.”
Their statement, however, noted that the agency has not “received any official reports regarding the wellness of animals related to the incident”— a statement hotly contested by local residents.
The controlled burn resulted in plumes of smoke hovering across the Ohio River Basin. In addition to the burn of vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, railcars also carried ethyleneglycol monobutyl and ethylhexyl acrylate, all of which are harmful to humans.
In a letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, Shapiro stated that the derailment, which occurred a quarter mile from the Pennsylvania state line, had produced a “significant impact on the residents, businesses, and environment.”
Shapiro also noted that surprisingly, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency were “not immediately contacted” by Norfolk Southern after the incident.
Shapiro rebuked Norfolk Southern for its unwillingness to “explore or articulate alternate courses of action” to the controlled burn. He wrote:
“Norfolk Southern response personnel improperly planned tactical response operations without adequate input from elected officials, local response organizations, or state agencies, resulting in a single plan of action to vent and burn all five cars. Norfolk Southern failed to explore all potential courses of action, including some that may have kept the rail line closed longer but could have resulted in a safer overall approach for first responders, residents, and the environment.”
The first-term governor who took office in January also claimed that Norfolk Southern failed to inform authorities of their intention to vent and burn chemicals from five railcars rather than the single car identified as a danger by the company. Shapiro wrote:
“Norfolk Southern gave inaccurate information and conflicting modeling about the impact of the controlled release that made protective action decision-making more difficult in the immediate aftermath of the derailment.”
Shapiro concluded his letter by accusing Norfolk Southern of not properly communicating with first responders and unnecessarily putting them at risk.
The Daily Wire noted that several first responders who worked the crash site have reported symptoms such as a “bad cough, headaches, sore throat, and diarrhea.”
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
