Norfolk Southern to pay $5 million to fire departments who battled train blaze

Mar. 6—HARRISBURG — Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $5 million in damages to western Pennsylvania fire departments after responding to the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as well as funds to Lawrence and Beaver county residents and businesses to recoup losses.

Gov. Josh Shapiro secured the funds days after meeting with the rail company's CEO Alan Shaw. Shapiro said the funding commitment is a starting point and will continue pushing Norfolk Southern for further accountability to cover additional costs that may accrue.

"Norfolk Southern's train derailment has hurt communities in western Pennsylvania, and to make matters worse, the company's disregard for crisis management best practices injected unnecessary risk into the situation and created confusion for residents and first responders," Shapiro said. "Norfolk Southern must do better — and the entire cost of this derailment and its impact on the commonwealth must be picked up by them, not the people of Pennsylvania. My administration is doing whatever it takes to help Pennsylvanians impacted by this incident, and I will continue to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for their actions."

Norfolk Southern's agreement to pay these costs is separate and apart from any otherwise applicable legal obligations that might be imposed.

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay:

—$5,000,000 to reimburse local fire departments in western Pennsylvania that need to replace contaminated or damaged equipment that was used in responding to the derailment. The fire departments of Mahoning Township, Bessemer, New Beaver Borough, North Beaver Township, Chewton, Enon Valley and Wampum sent personnel to the scene.

—$1,000,000 for a Community Relief Fund to be run by Beaver and Lawrence County officials to support business owners and residents impacted by the derailment.

—$950,000 to cover Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) work in western Pennsylvania.

—$400,000 for the Pennsylvania Department of Health's (DOH) services, including:

—Costs associated with the Health Resource Center (HRC) — which has already served more than 250 residents in since opening on February 28 — like rent, supplies, and staff time.

—Costs associated with DOH's Poison Control Call Line, which has tracked every call related to train derailment.

—$30,000 to cover the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency's (PEMA) staff time since the Commonwealth Response Coordination Center (CRCC) activation.

Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced the opening of a Health Resource Center in Darlington Township, Beaver County, for residents of Beaver and Lawrence counties who have health concerns. The center will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through Friday. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture are also on hand at the Center to help interested residents sign up for free, independent water testing and to provide guidance on food and animal safety, respectively. DEP is conducting independent water sampling to monitor water contamination risks. So far, DEP has successfully collected samples from nearly every private drinking water well within one mile of the Norfolk Southern derailment site and expects to receive results in the coming days.

Pennsylvania continues to see no concerning air or water quality readings following this incident. Air and water monitoring have been in place since the incident began and no concerning readings have been detected thus far.