Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published February 23, 2023 5:30 P.M.

(Center Township, PA) The Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee held a public hearing Thursday Morning at the CCBC Golden Dome. Chairman Senator Doug Mastriano led the hearing along with Democrat Chair Katie Muth. First on the agenda was supposed to be a testimony from Alan Shaw, President of Norfolk Southern. Shaw declined to attend the hearing and the committee placed an empty chair on the stage with his name on it. The committee proceeded to start the hearing by listening to a panel of pre-selected residents. A resident who was not preselected attempted to ask Senator Mastriano questions, but he was not given any response by the committee. Residents from the surrounding area of the train derailment shared testimonies of their experience. Many described ending up with cold like illnesses, facial rashes, and burning eyes and questioned why there was little communication to them as the events unfolded. A few broke into tears while speaking. Some said their made them ill. Following the resident panel, a group of administrative leaders were questioned. These leaders included Randy Padfield, Director of PEMA, PA Department of Agriculture Acting Secretary Russell Redding, PA Department of Environmental Protection Acting Secretary Richard Negrin, PA Department of Transportion Acting Secretary Michael Carroll, and Captian John Hopkins of the Bureu of Law Enforcement for the Southwest Region of the PA Fish and Boat Commission. They explained that Norfolk Southern’s model of how the controlled explosion would take place was the one chosen to use during meetings with officials and Governors Shapiro and DeWine, and that Norfolk Southern did not allow any other options for different models. Norfolk Southern was said to have determined that not only one tanker car, but five, needed to be detonated and the officials trusted their roughly one mile evacuation model was accurate, even though other models they had created didn’t add up at first. Intial models other than Norfolk Southern’s were said to have required a much larger evacuation zone. It was stated that Norfolk Southern claimed to be experts of 200 years and didn’t want to listen to anyone else. It was also said that Norfolk Southern acknowledged that the situation was worsened by their failed communications. A panel of local Beaver County leaders, including Commissioners Dan Camp and Jack Manning, Director of Emergency Services Eric Brewer, Darlington Township Fire Chief Chris Laderer, and Assistant Darlington Township Fire Chief/EMA Coordinator William Douthitt were next to take the floor. They gave the committee a run down of the response taken to the derailment by the county. They made it a point to say that they did the best they could with the information they had at the time, noting that Norfolk Southern was not providing good communication. Darlington Township Volunteer Fire Department stated that Norfolk Southern was pushing to do the detonation sooner, but they challenged kids should be released from school first, particularly because the detonation was going to be much bigger than originally planned. This led nearby school districts to be able to dismiss their students. County leaders also stated they were prepared for a much larger evacuation. Camp made a comment near the end of the hearing, that Beaver County should have their own clinic for residents to visit for health concerns. Following the local leaders, legal counsel made presentations.
Information provided for residents: