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:

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leaves after a news conference Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, near the site of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
By JOSH BOAK Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is calling on congressional Republicans to increase the fines levied on rail companies for safety violations in the wake of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. There are still safety and health concerns among residents in the village after dozens of train cars being pulled by Norfolk Southern went off the tracks on Feb. 3 and released chemicals into the area. The White House says that the highest fine that can be charged to companies for violations involving the transportation of hazardous materials is $225,455. That’s less than 1% of Norfolk Southern’s profits last year of $3.27 billion.

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Jaqueline Benitez pushes her cart down an aisle as she shops for groceries at a supermarket in Bellflower, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. Benitez, 21, who works as a preschool teacher, depends on California’s SNAP benefits to help pay for food, and starting in March she expects a significant cut, perhaps half, of the $250 in food benefits she has received since 2020. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner)

(Washington, D.C.) (AP) Nearly 30 million Americans who got extra government help with grocery bills during the pandemic will soon see that aid shrink. An analysis shows for the average recipient, the change will mean about $90 less per month in food stamps. In 32 states and other jurisdictions, the COVID-19 emergency allotments will end with February payments. Other states have already stopped giving out extra foods stamps. The extra help started at the beginning of the pandemic. Government officials and advocates are using texts, flyers and social media posts to make sure recipients know the program is ending.

FILE – A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. West Virginia’s water utility says it’s taking precautionary steps following the derailment of a train hauling chemicals that later sent up a toxic plume in Ohio. The utility said in a statement on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2023 that it has enhanced its treatment processes even though there hasn’t been a change in raw water at its Ohio River intake. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)

DEER PARK, Texas (AP) — Toxic wastewater used to extinguish a fire following a train derailment in Ohio is headed to a Houston suburb for disposal.
“I and my office heard today that ‘firefighting water’ from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment is slated to be disposed of in our county,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a Wednesday statement.
“Our Harris County Pollution Control Department and Harris County Attorney’s have reached out to the company and the Environmental Protection Agency to receive more information,” Hidalgo wrote.
The wastewater is being sent to Texas Molecular, which injects hazardous waste into the ground for disposal.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality told KTRK-TV that Texas Molecular “is authorized to accept and manage a variety of waste streams, including vinyl chloride, as part of their … hazardous waste permit and underground injection control permit.”
The company told KHOU-TV it is experienced in managing this type of disposal.
“Our technology safely removes hazardous constituents from the biosphere. We are part of the solution to reduce risk and protect the environment, whether in our local area or other places that need the capabilities we offer to protect the environment,” the company said.
The fiery Feb. 3 derailment in Ohio prompted evacuations when toxic chemicals were burned after being released from five derailed tanker rail cars carrying vinyl choride that were in danger of exploding.
“It’s … very, very toxic,” Dr. George Guillen, the executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston, said, but the risk to the public is minimal.
“This injection, in some cases, is usually 4,000 or 5,000 feet down below any kind of drinking water aquifer,” said Guillen, who is also a professor of biology and environmental science at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Both Guillen and Deer Park resident Tammy Baxter said their greatest concerns are transporting the chemicals more than 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) from East Palestine, Ohio; to Deer Park, Texas.
“There has to be a closer deep well injection,” Baxter told KTRK. “It’s foolish to put it on the roadway. We have accidents on a regular basis … It is silly to move it that far.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the derailment site Thursday, has warned the railroad responsible for the derailment, Norfolk Southern, to fulfill its promises to clean up the mess just outside East Palestine, Ohio, and help the town recover.
Buttigieg has also announced a package of reforms intended to improve rail safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, near the site of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — The crew operating a freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, did not receive a critical warning about an overheated axle until just before dozens of cars went off the tracks, federal safety investigators said in a report Thursday as U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site.
An engineer slowed and stopped the train after getting a “critical audible alarm message,” according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The crew then saw fire and smoke and alerted dispatch of a possible derailment, the report said.
The axle investigators are focused on had been heating up as the train went down the tracks, but did not reach the threshold for stopping the train and inspecting it until just before the derailment, the report said. The train was going about 47 mph (75 kph) at the time, just under the speed limit of 50 mph (80 kph), according to safety investigators.
Ohio Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told CNN ahead of the report’s release that its findings had the potential to form the basis of a criminal referral from the state. He also said railroad company Norfolk Southern should temporarily relocate people who continue to feel unsafe, or even consider buying their property.
“This is the railroad’s responsibility, and it’s up to the government officials at the federal, state and local levels to hold them accountable and do right by the citizens of East Palestine,” Husted said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has already made a criminal referral of Norfolk Southern to the state attorney general’s office.
NTSB released its preliminary findings as Buttigieg went on a tour of the crash site Thursday after getting criticized for not coming sooner, and amid mounting criticism of the overall federal response to the Feb. 3 derailment.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Buttigieg said he was “trying to strike the right balance” between showing support on the ground and allowing the safety board to take the lead in the early going.
He praised “the resilience, the resolve and the decency” of the community amid the impact of the disaster itself and the crush of media and political attention.
The Biden White House has defended its response to the train derailment, saying officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the transportation safety board and other agencies were at the rural site within hours of the derailment. The White House says it has also offered federal assistance and FEMA has been coordinating with the state emergency operations center and other partners.
Another Biden administration official, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, has been to East Palestine multiple times, most recently Tuesday as the EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for the cleanup.
Among those criticizing Buttigieg was former President Donald Trump, who came to Ohio on Wednesday. The Department of Transportation said Buttigieg is visiting now that the EPA has declared the emergency phase of the crash to be over and the start of long-term cleanup efforts is underway.
Asked Thursday about the Trump visit, Buttigieg said that if the former president felt strongly about increased rail safety efforts, “one thing he could do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch.”
He slammed Norfolk Southern and other freight rail companies for fighting regulations he said would “hold them accountable and the other railroad companies accountable for their safety record. What we’ve seen is the industry goes to Washington and gets their way.” He pressed Congress to act.
Heather Bable, who lives two blocks from the derailment site, said she’s relieved the government’s top brass is finally showing up.
“We need that attention because we weren’t getting it. They should have been here all along,” said Bable, who was among the throngs of residents lining the streets in pouring rain to welcome Trump on Wednesday.
The reception for Buttigieg was decidedly more muted, with little fanfare around the village of just under 5,000 residents. Trump won nearly 72% of the vote in this heavily Republican region in the 2020 election.
Buttigieg’s visit came nearly three weeks after more than three dozen freight cars — including 11 carrying hazardous materials — derailed on the East Palestine outskirts, near the Pennsylvania state line, prompting an evacuation as fears grew about a potential explosion of smoldering wreckage.
Officials seeking to avoid an uncontrolled blast intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke high into the sky. That left people questioning the potential health effects even as authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people.
As remediation of the site continued, Norfolk Southern announced late Wednesday it had agreed to excavate the soil under two tracks. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had called out the railroad company’s failure to address the contaminated soil underneath its tracks before repairing them and running freight again.
“Our original plan would have effectively and safely remediated the soil under our tracks. As I listened to community members over the past two weeks, they shared with me their concerns about that approach. I appreciate the direct feedback, and I am addressing it,” Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw said in a written statement.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, whose Pennsylvania district borders the East Palestine disaster site, asked Norfolk Southern to expand the boundaries of the geographic zone in which it is providing financial assistance and testing. He asserted the current zone excludes many affected Pennsylvania residents and businesses, and said the company should commit to cleaning up soil and water up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) beyond it.
“Norfolk Southern is failing to show any commitment to rebuilding lost trust in our community,” Deluzio wrote in a letter to Shaw. Providing additional resources “would help your company restore the sense of security that the Norfolk Southern train derailment and its aftermath destroyed.”
The president of the Ohio Senate, meanwhile, announced a public hearing on the derailment next week to hear testimony from state officials.
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Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania and Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.