Pennsylvania, Ohio governors speak out about East Palestine train derailment
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (KDKA) - Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sent a scathing letter blasting Norfolk Southern about its handling of the East Palestine train derailment.
His letter came just hours after Ohio Gov. Mik DeWine briefed the media with the latest updates, saying he's in frequent contact with the railroad's CEO.
Shapiro says he's seriously concerned with Norfolk Southern's handling of the train derailment in East Palestine, just a quarter mile from the Pennsylvania state line.
He says Norfolk Southern failed to implement a unified command, creating confusion. He says it gave out inaccurate and conflicting information. And lastly, he says it was unwilling to explore alternative courses of action instead of the vent and burn approach that caused the plume.
The letter says "You can be assured that Pennsylvania will hold Norfolk Southern accountable for any and all impacts to our Commonwealth."
Tuesday's press conference by DeWine had a slightly different approach. He didn't necessarily call out Norfolk Southern, but said he wants Congress to look into why the current rules allowed for that train to not be considered a hazardous train.
The governor called upon environmental experts, including the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, who confirmed the event killed 3,500 fish, a total of 12 different species. Thankfully, the experts say they don't have any evidence of non-aquatic species suffering from the derailment.
As for the air, they're claiming monitoring shows the air now looks just like it did before the derailment.
As for the water, they want residents with private water sources to take action.
"We are strongly recommending those who have not yet had their water source checked to use bottled water. This is going to be particularly important if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or preparing formula for an infant, avail yourself of that water," said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff the director of the Ohio Department of Health.
A lot of the people in the town are on municipal water and not private wells, so they're claiming the majority of people are getting water from water reserves using the most distant ones.
When it comes to all the sludge in the fire, all the combustible materials, officials still didn't test yet for the PFA compounds, but they're working with the local emergency management to start testing the PFAs in the drinking water. It's another reason they say to stock up right now on bottled water in the area of this derailment.