HARRISBURG — Attorney General Michelle Henry, in a letter to federal authorities, highlights issues that Norfolk Southern still must address as a result of the train derailment last year in East Palestine, Ohio. Suggested remedies include additional health care funding to benefit Pennsylvanians who were impacted by the event, and stricter regulation of Norfolk Southern’s future operations.
Attorney General Henry, along with Governor Josh Shapiro, filed the letter in response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s request for input on a proposed settlement with Norfolk Southern regarding the Feb. 3, 2023 derailment.
In the response letter, Attorney General Henry commends the Department of Justice for efforts to reach a settlement as soon as possible to help those deeply affected by the disaster. The Attorney General, however, remains concerned about Norfolk Southern, identifying shortfalls that keep the full scope of residents and workers who were harmed from receiving sufficient aid, and for failures to provide healthcare treatment costs for harms yet to be known.
“This catastrophic crash had wide-ranging impacts on many Pennsylvania residents and workers, and Norfolk Southern must remedy these impacts,” Attorney General Henry said. “As a result of this incident, many Pennsylvanians are in financial hardship and were physically harmed — the full extent of those negative health impacts still to be seen — and they deserve to be made whole, now and in the future.”
In the response letter, AG Henry points to three main concern areas:
- Inadequate health care funding for present and future health impacts related to the toxic plumes of contaminants that filled our air following the derailment;
- Inadequate range of applicability for health and environmental monitoring provisions;
- Failure to incorporate recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board in its Final Report of the incident.
The full response letter can be read HERE.
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