The place was in Monaca, Pennsylvania. The day was February 23rd and 300 local western Pennsylvania residents packed the room at the Community College of Beaver County. It was just 21 miles from the site of East Palestine, Ohio’s toxic chemical rail spill disaster where more than three dozen Norfolk Southern cars had jumped the tracks.
It was the first public hearing on the East Palestine catastrophe, led by Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, the chairman of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. He pledged to get to the bottom of the disaster and demanded answers on how it happened, who gave the order for the “control burn” of the chemicals and what harm was being done to area residents.
The committee invited Norfolk Southern executives to the hearing. “They all either declined or ignored us,” Mastriano’s chief of staff explained.
Only public and media pressure finally forced CEO Alan Shaw of Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern to eventually issue statements like “we’re terribly sorry” and “we’ll take care of it” when he was vigorously questioned on March 9th by a U.S. Senate committee.
But it was 17 days earlier when Mastriano was told by resident after resident that they suffered from severe migraine headaches, physical sickness, shortness of breath and overall fatigue. It was a sad situation, and naturally fostered anger and frustration. And this was just days after the spill and “controlled burn.”
Atlanta talk radio host John Fredericks was on the scene and reported that one witness– Sarah Kuenlz of Beaver Falls, about five miles from the spill– called the spill a “Little Chernobyl.” Detailing her injuries, Kuenlz said she has been sick since the fire, her throat burns incessantly and she broke out in welts and rashes all over her body, including her face. “Take a good look at me,” she asked the panel. “Do I look OK to you?”
Another witness, who broke down in tears, asked a simple question: “We just want to know what the chemicals were, we don’t even know what we are dealing with.” And that’s a good question the public still doesn’t fully know.
Another resident was livid and told the committee that Norfolk Southern trains going through on the tracks emitted a strong smell of chemicals.
Another committee witness, who broke down in tears, asked, “What will happen to me and my children? I can’t get out. I work two jobs. Will my kids be alright? What will become of us?”
So consider this: Will Norfolk Southern really pay for everyone’s healthcare-related costs in the affected Pennsylvania/Ohio area? Will it pay for anyone who wants to move somewhere else? And will Shaw periodically report on what the company is doing to upgrade its rail safety equipment and procedures?
Those questions haven’t been fully answered– and Norfolk Southern must still satisfy these deep concerns.
A final note: Why did the federal “Environmental Protection Agency” order that the chemical mess be blown up, which ignited massive fire and smoke. Was this the most prudent thing to do to assist “clean up” considering all the residents that are affected?
Shaw says he is “determined to make it right.” That should also be the mission of the EPA bureaucrats.
Phil Kent is the CEO and Publisher of InsiderAdvantage Georgia.
