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.
