The EPA will help the people of East Palestine, Ohio through the aftermath of the toxic train wreck

The Environmental Impact of Norfolk Southern’s Clean-up: The Ohio Train’s Operator, the State’s Top Environmental Official, and East Palestine, Ohio

The train’s operator must clean up the mess that they created and the nation’s top environmental official will support East Palestine, Ohio, throughout the clean-up.

“In no way, shape or form, will Norfolk Southern get off the hook for the mess that they created,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said, vowing to use the agency’s “full enforcement authority.”

President Joe Biden echoed the sentiment Tuesday, calling the EPA’s order “common sense.” “This is their mess. They should clean it up,” the president said of Norfolk Southern in an Instagram post.

I know that this order won’t bring families in this town back to normal. It will begin to give justice for the pain that Norfolk Southern has caused.

The governor of Pennsylvania said that the state environmental officials made a criminal referral against Norfolk Southern. The Ohio attorney general is also reviewing all actions the law “allows him to take,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-wednesday/index.html

Air Quality and Water Quality Monitoring After the Cleveland Firefighter After the February 3 Train Wreck: Norfolk Southern Embedded in East Palestine

TheFebruary 3 train wreck that sparked a fire that burned for days and prompted crews to intentionally release vinyl chloride from the train cars to help avoid an explosion has resulted in a backlash among the small village’s residents who are concerned about the safety of their air and water.

Some residents in the community have reported health problems, such as headaches and rashes, and thousands of fish died in Ohio waterways after the train derailed.

Air and water quality testing has so far found no dangers to residents of the small village near the Pennsylvania border after the February 3 derailment, and Regan said he has “absolute confidence” in the agency’s data.

They made a toast from the tap water at the home of an East Palestine, Ohio resident to quell some concerns about the water’s safety.

The governor of Pennsylvania, who ordered an evacuate after the train wreck, accused the train operator of giving incorrect information and failing to discuss alternative routes of action after the wreck.

“In sum, Norfolk Southern injected unnecessary risk into this crisis,” Shapiro said, adding he plans to hold the company accountable for their actions.

Norfolk Southern gave millions of dollars in financial assistance to East Palestine, which includes direct financial assistance to families and a $1 million community assistance fund.

Shaw told CNN on Tuesday that he had made a commitment from day one that Norfolk Southern would fix the site. We are going to do it through long-term air and water monitoring. We’re going to help the residents of this community recover and we’re going to invest in the long-term health of this community and we’re going to make Norfolk Southern a safer railroad.”

Shaw’s company has continuously monitored air and water quality and has conducted hundreds of tests with thousands of data points, which have all come back clean.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-wednesday/index.html

Concerns Concerning the Effects of the Toxicity of the Norfolk Southern Railroad Wreck on East Palestine Residents and Public Health Concerns

The toxic derailing has led to increased calls for rail safety and raised questions about laws surrounding the movement of toxic substances.

The law did not require Norfolk Southern to alert the state of a train carrying hazardous materials, said DeWine.

President Biden called on Congress to help implement rail safety measures and accused the Trump administration of limiting the government’s ability to strengthen rail safety measures.

Biden wrote that the opposition to safety measures was coming back to roost, as a result of the train accident.

The soil underneath the railroad tracks had not been dealt with, which is a concern of citizens, according to DeWine. “So, under the administrator’s order, that soil will be removed. So the tracks will have to be taken up and that soil will have to be removed.”

As crews continue cleanup efforts and officials promise accountability, East Palestine residents are still dealing with fears surrounding potential impacts from the toxic wreck.

Concerns remain as a new health clinic was opened to address the reports of headaches and other symptoms in East Palestine.

Asked about the reported symptoms, the EPA administrator said Tuesday that he’s “not discounting what people are experiencing” and asked anyone concerned to seek medical attention.

“I believe people when they say that they’re facing adverse impacts. And what we’re doing is we’re asking them to seek medical attention … then we can take that information and add that as part of our response,” Regan said. “We’re not discounting what people are experiencing at all. We just ask that they seek medical help while we conduct all of our investigations.”

“We need our town cleaned up, we need our residents to feel safe in their homes,” Conaway said at Tuesday news conference. That is the top thing. Your home is your sanctuary: if you don’t feel safe in your home, then you’re never going to feel safe anywhere.”

Compensation of Company Insiders Following the East Palestine Train Derailment: Alan Shaw sold $448,000 worth of stock sales and his plans for a scholarship fund

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw sold $448,000 worth of the company’s stock this week, a month after the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that is still being cleaned up.

Shaw had just set up a $445,000 scholarship endowment fund for seniors at East Palestine High School, which will be used by an number of students to attend college or Vocational Schools, when his stock sale happened.

He was promoted to CEO shortly after he completed his stock sale. Company insiders often have such plans in place so that they don’t have to worry about trades being made with the benefit of Insider information, which would be illegal.

Company insiders must report their stock purchases or sales, or the exercise of stock options, to the Securities and Exchange Commission so they are known to other investors.

Shaw was paid more than $4 million in 2011. The Railroad has said it paid 12 million dollars to residents and groups in East Palestine but James Squires received 14 million dollars when he was CEO.