Category: Pennsylvania

Partisan Divide Evident About Ohio Toxic Train Derailment Response

Legislators on both sides of the aisle have widely criticized the Biden administration for its response to Norfolk Southern’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3. Partisan divide about the topic was evident on March 9 at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing to explore the crash that occurred in…


Norfolk Southern CEO Repeatedly Apologizes For Ohio Toxic Train Crash, Defends Safety Record in Senate Hearing

Scrutinized by lawmakers during a Senate committee hearing about railroad safety on March 9, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw apologized multiple times for his company’s Feb. 3 toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, while repeatedly defending the railroad’s safety record. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing to explore the crash that occurred…


Kennel Owner Who Fled Ohio Train Derailment Says Business Destroyed

Champion dog breeder, trainer, and kennel owner Katie Schwarzwaelder was out of town celebrating her 30th birthday when alarming phone calls got her phone jumping. Friends and neighbors saw distant smoke in the direction of her 27-acre property in Darlington Township, Pennsylvania, and thought her kennel was on fire. Schwarzwaelder immediately called her kennel manager….


Farmers Fear Contamination at Start of Growing Season Near Train Derailment

With spring planting just around the corner, Ohio and Pennsylvania farmers near the Norfolk Southern train derailment are worried about the effect spilled chemicals will have on their crops and livestock. In a joint letter on Wednesday, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) asked Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas…


Gov. Josh Shapiro’s First Budget Sheds Light on Priorities for Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget address Tuesday laid out his vision of policies to prioritize in his proposed $44.4 billion budget, and he made an attempt to unify those listening. “Let’s work together,” he urged House and Senate members who assembled to hear his plan. And, “believe in us,” Shapiro, a Democrat, asked of those…


Norfolk Southern Announces Safety Plan Amid Train Derailment Aftermath

Plagued by repeated freight train derailments, including a toxic crash in eastern Ohio in early February and another accident in southwest Ohio outside of Springfield on March 4, Norfolk Southern Railway introduced a six-point plan on March 6 “to immediately enhance the safety of its operations.” The plan is based on the National Transportation Safety…


Railroad Offers Temporary Help to Residents Impacted by Ohio Toxic Train Derailment

As cleanup continues more than a month after one of its freight trains derailed in East Palestine, Norfolk Southern Railway said it will pay for residents who live within a mile of the accident site to temporarily relocate. “As soil work continues at Norfolk Southern’s derailment site, some residents close to the derailment site may…


Norfolk Southern’s Second Ohio Trail Derailment Under Investigation

After another Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) train derailed in Springfield, Ohio, over the weekend, authorities have launched an investigation. This is the third train derailment on a line owned by NSC after the toxic Feb. 3 incident in East Palestine, Ohio—one of the worst environmental disasters in recent memory. The first incident involved the deliberate…


Supreme Court to Hear Appeal After Insurer Refused to Cover a Yacht Wreck

The Supreme Court agreed on March 6 to take up an appeal by an insurance company that refused to cover non-fire damage to a yacht after it ran aground while carrying a fire extinguishing system whose inspection had lapsed. The case is Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co. LLC, court file 20-500….


Legal Team for Christian Postal Worker Pushed out for Demanding Sunday Work Exemption Hopeful About Upcoming Case

The legal team representing an evangelical Christian postal worker who quit the U.S. Postal Service after it refused to accommodate his wish not to work on the Sunday Sabbath is “optimistic” about the case the Supreme Court will hear next month. Over the opposition of the Biden administration, the court agreed on Jan. 13 to…