HARRISBURG, Pa. — A state Senate committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Norfolk Southern’s chief executive to appear before the panel, after a bipartisan outpouring of frustration over a lack of information and testing data following last month’s catastrophic train derailment across the Pennsylvania border in East Palestine, Ohio.
The Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of issuing the subpoena to CEO Alan Shaw after several lawmakers railed about the plight of residents in Beaver County and nearby portions of Ohio around East Palestine, where the Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed Feb. 3.
Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Franklin Republican, said residents haven’t been given reliable information about what they may have been exposed to since the derailment and the subsequent controlled release of vinyl chloride from overturned tanker cars. He said people and animals in the area continue to show signs of poor health.
“The people of western Pennsylvania want answers,” said Mastriano, the committee’s chairman “I think this is going to get worse.”
Pennsylvania state Sen. Katie Muth, a Montgomery Democrat, said requests she has made to various government agencies for data about environmental testing have gone unanswered.
“I am getting crickets on that information and it is incredibly frustrating,” said Muth, the panel’s top Democrat.
Norfolk Southern did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
No one on the committee expressed strong confidence that Shaw would appear before the panel next week as demanded and speak freely, given that many lawsuits already have been filed against his company and a National Transportation Safety Board investigation is underway.
Pennsylvania state Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, a Montgomery Republican, voted against the subpoena, saying it was premature and that lawmakers should focus on helping people in Beaver County.
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