Casey has repeatedly fought for resources for Pennsylvanians affected by the derailment and worked to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for the cleanup and to help the community recover
PA Senior Senator continues to push for passage of the Railway Safety Act
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement to mark one year since a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, OH, devastating nearby Darlington Township, PA, on February 3, 2023:
“It has been one year since a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed near the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, igniting a blaze that the people of Darlington Township, PA, and surrounding communities are, in many ways, still battling. Norfolk Southern’s repeated reckless actions—from cutting corners on safety, to neglecting to immediately inform local officials that vinyl chloride had been released into their communities, to refusing recovery aid to Pennsylvania residents—caused and exacerbated this crisis. The people of Darlington and East Palestine didn’t ask for this disaster, nor do they deserve the physical, emotional, and financial toll the derailment has taken.
“This will happen again if we don’t take action. I am sick and tired of rail companies putting Pennsylvania communities at risk and getting away with it. Since the derailment, I’ve been fighting to pass the Railway Safety Act, bipartisan legislation to finally hold big rail companies accountable for derailments, make freight rail safer, and provide Darlington and communities like it with the resources they need to recover. Every day that goes by without this bill becoming law is a day when another Pennsylvania community could be at risk. I’m not going to stop pushing for the Railway Safety Act because it is long past time that big rail companies are subject to more than a slap on the wrist and because no community should have to suffer through the hell wrought by a hazardous derailment ever again.
“Today I am thinking about the people of Darlington and the surrounding area who still live with the repercussions of Norfolk Southern’s trainwreck every day: the first responders who risked their lives, the farmers concerned about the safety of their crops, and the residents who fear potential exposures could lead to health problems for themselves and their families. No matter how long it takes, we need to make sure they don’t get left behind.”
Following the Norfolk Southern Train Derailment in February 2023, Senator Casey, along with U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) and Ohio’s U.S. Senators, sent letters to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Transportation Safety Board urging them to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for releasing hazardous materials into the air and water, relaying rail safety concerns from constituents and experts, and asking them to ensure proper resources and assistance were reaching affected residents in Darlington Township.
That same month, Senator Casey, along with members from both the Pennsylvania and Ohio congressional delegations, sent a letter to Norfolk Southern Corporation President and CEO Alan Shaw to remind him that his company, as the carrier responsible for operating the derailed train, has a legal and moral obligation to the residents of East Palestine, Ohio and Darlington Township, Pennsylvania. The Senators also demanded to know how the company plans to be an active member of response and clean-up operations as well as provide full, adequate, and equitable renumeration for the damages caused to the surrounding communities and environment by the derailment of their train.
In March 2023, Senators Casey and Fetterman introduced bipartisan legislation, the Railway Safety Act, to prevent future train disasters by taking key steps to improve rail safety protocols, such as enhancing safety procedures for trains carrying hazardous materials, establishing requirements for wayside defect detectors, creating a permanent requirement for most major railroads to operate with at least two-person crews, increasing fines for wrongdoing committed by rail carriers, and more. In May 2023, the Railway Safety Act advanced of out the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation by a vote of 16-11. Included in the legislation are provisions based on Casey’s Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act to set aside funds—paid for by companies that ship and carry hazardous materials—to provide emergency responders, firefighters, and law enforcement with the financial resources needed to replace equipment, pay workers overtime, and address other urgent costs in the event of a serious derailment.
In response to the concerns of farmers and agricultural producers in and around the Norfolk Southern derailment site in East Palestine and Darlington Township, Senators Casey and Fetterman sent a letter to Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Michael Regan, Administrator of the EPA urging the Biden Administration to deploy resources to the region to help farmers conduct any necessary testing of their soils, plant tissue, and livestock, and to interpret the results of those tests as they pertain to the safety and marketability of their crops and products. Additionally, after reports of Darlington Township residents being denied assistance, including reimbursements for receipts and inconvenience checks, at the Family Assistance Center in East Palestine, Ohio, Senator Casey, along with Senator Fetterman and U.S. Representative Chis Deluzio (D-PA-17), urged the company to provide assistance to Darlington Township residents in zip codes 16115, 16120, and 16141.
In April 2023, Senators Casey and Fetterman wrote to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the National Institutes of Health to request assistance for the impacted communities in Pennsylvania and Ohio by facilitating necessary health monitoring. In July 2023, the Senators sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Deputy Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Tristan Brown in support of a proposed rule requiring railroads to share real-time train consist information with emergency responders. This proposed rule is similar to language from the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act and will help ensure the safety of first responders and their communities.
The following month, Casey announced that Norfolk Southern had reimbursed Darlington Township for $544,700, the estimated cost to repair East Palestine Road, which was damaged as a result of the Norfolk Southern train derailment on February 3. Most recently, in January 2024, Casey and Fetterman urged Norfolk Southern to include Pennsylvania in its participation in the Federal Railroad Administration’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System, a program the company partially joined after Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators called on them to do so.
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