EMPORIUM – The state’s top environmental official has called for
a public forum to sort through the multi-million issues and
long-term implications of the June 30 train derailment near the
McKean/Cameron County border.

For the first time since a speeding train derailed in a remote
area and leaked more than 40,000 gallons of lye into Sinnemahoning
Portage Creek, many of the public officials involved in the spill’s
aftermath gathered for a roundtable assessment Thursday at the
Cameron County Courthouse.

State Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and state Rep. Martin
Causer, R-Turtlepoint, were among the participants. Each pledged to
hold the responsible parties accountable and ease the impact of the
disaster as much as possible.

Norfolk Southern will be hit with heavy fines and civil suits,
but residents of Cameron County – where most of the environmental
damage occurred – are worried they won’t be compensated for their
losses.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary
Kathleen McGinty next week will set the date of a public forum to
be held in Emporium. Affected citizens will be able to comment on
the state’s response to the spill and ask questions.

The plan was announced during Thursday’s session by Kelly Burch,
DEP’s Northwest Regional Director.

Burch was quick to point out that Norfolk Southern officials
have cooperated with the investigation, accepted blame for the
crash – the train was speeding at the time of the derailment. He
said the company will share its environmental assessment and
remediation plan no later than Oct. 6.

“Their consultants will make recommendations, but we (DEP) will
determine what must be done,” Burch added.

The environmental damage is devastating by all accounts. It will
take between five and seven years to run its course, officials said
Thursday.

“The initial flush killed literally everything,” Burch said. “We
had to go seven miles downstream before we found a single living
thing.”

Waterways Conservation Officer Bill Crisp echoed Burch’s
assessment. He said the sodium hydroxide produced a “100 percent
fish kill.”

Even if native species return to the affected area through
tributaries or migration, Crisp said, “there’s absolutely no bugs
or other food for them to eat.”

He added that the impact of the spill was measured as far as 35
miles downstream. A state-designated wetlands near the crash site
was also contaminated. If Norfolk Southern’s treatment of the
affected area with citric acid fails to stabilize soil acidity, the
company may be forced to pay to remove the contaminated earth and
replace it with clean fill and topsoil.

Cameron County Commissioner Glen Fiebig said the area’s economy
will feel the impact in April, when trout anglers traditionally
fill the region’s seasonal residences and motels.

“Fishing season is the biggest thing we have right now,” Fiebig
said. “We can’t afford to lose any more business in Cameron County
… our constituents, our businesses, deserve something.”

Fiebig said Norfolk Southern could face a class action suit by
those parties who can demonstrate a financial loss.

Cameron County District Attorney Tommy Tompkins reported that he
has conferred with McKean County DA John Pavlock to investigate the
possibility of bringing criminal charges against Norfolk
Southern.

Because Sinnemahoning Portage Creek was a designated
“exceptional value waterway,” state agencies have a detailed
inventory of its physical characteristics, Burch pointed out.

“We know what the stream will require in order to be fully
restored,” he added. “We intend to hold Norfolk Southern
accountable, telling them, in effect, you will do whatever it
takes. The stream will be restored to its exceptional value
status.”

Scarnati and Causer got an earful from Cameron County officials.
Tompkins suggested that the lawmakers press the state General
Assembly to establish a disaster relief fund, similar to the
tobacco settlements worked out by the federal government.

Scarnati responded that “every option is on the table.”

“We promote this area as the PA Wilds with the best, and we
don’t want to lose that,” the senator added.