Shapiro: $340,000 coming to county from derailment fund

Jul. 24—HARRISBURG — More than $300,000 is coming to Lawrence County for community relief following February's Norfolk Southern train derailment in nearby East Palestine, Ohio.

The money — $340,000 for Lawrence County and $660,000 for Darlington Township, Beaver County — comes from Norfolk Southern at the request of Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose office will announce the funding award today.

It follows $1 million already sent by the rail company to Pennsylvania fire departments who helped respond to the Feb. 3 derailment and blaze.

Local officials here and in Darlington Township will determine how the funding is allocated.

"What will happen next is the three of us (commissioners) will have to formalize the distribution of these dollars," Lawrence County Commissioner Chairman Dan Vogler said in a phone interview, adding the money was specified to help residents and businesses.

Vogler said preliminary talks with his colleagues Loretta Spielvogel and Brian D. Burick is that the money should be given to Little Beaver Township and Enon Valley Borough, the two closest county municipalities to the derailment site, as well as the Lawrence County Conservation District. A key figure could be Cliff Wallace, a resident of North Beaver Township who is also the board chairman of the conservation district, chairs the Beaver-Lawrence Farm Bureau and has been involved with soil and water testing with the state in the wake of the crash.

No formal discussions have been made, Vogler noted, and the exact calculations of how the money will be divided will be done at a public meeting.

Vogler said the commissioners agreed with 66 percent of the money being given to Beaver County — which then gave it all to Darlington Township — because of the county's proximity to the crash site and because it has twice the population of Lawrence County.

The train was traveling from Illinois to the company's rail yard in Beaver County and it would have passed through Enon Valley in Lawrence County. Instead, it derailed, spilling toxic chemicals into the ground.

A controlled burn sent a large plume of black smoke into the sky three days later.

Lawrence County volunteer fire departments of Mahoning Township, Bessemer, New Beaver Borough, North Beaver Township, Chewton, Enon Valley and Wampum all responded to the derailment the night it happened and, if they applied, will receive part of $1 million set aside by the rail company for equipment reimbursement.

The funding announced Monday is part of funds Shapiro secured to go toward residents impacted by the derailment and the burn.

Shapiro has visited Darlington Township on several occasions, most recently in May, as relief efforts there are still ongoing.

Darlington Township Supervisor Chairman Mike Carreon said the money given to the township will be put into an account "to help us walk down the roads of recovery and prevention."

He added "this is not a settlement, but a small step forward."