HARRISBURG, Pa. — About 40% of the hundreds of thousands of railroad freight cars that roll through Pennsylvania annually carry hazardous materials, a rail industry official told lawmakers Monday, but the U.S. Constitution prevents the state from setting comprehensive rules for how they operate.
The testimony at a state Senate Transportation Committee hearing on the catastrophic Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, came on the same day another committee scheduled a possible vote on issuing a subpoena to the CEO of Norfolk Southern, operator of the derailed train.
An empty chair was placed at the front of a hearing last week held by the Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee after the company cited an ongoing federal investigation as its reason for declining to attend. On Monday, Josh Herman, a spokesperson for committee Chairman Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, said the committee would conduct a vote Wednesday on whether to subpoena company CEO Alan Shaw.
