It has been one year since a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed near the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, igniting a blaze that the people of Darlington Township, PA, and surrounding communities are, in many ways, still battling. 

Norfolk Southern’s repeated reckless actions—from cutting corners on safety, to neglecting to immediately inform local officials that vinyl chloride had been released into their communities, to refusing recovery aid to Pennsylvania residents—caused and exacerbated this crisis. 

The people of Darlington and East Palestine didn’t ask for this disaster, nor do they deserve the physical, emotional and financial toll the derailment has taken.

This will happen again if we don’t take action. Since the derailment, I’ve been fighting to pass the Railway Safety Act, bipartisan legislation to finally hold big rail companies accountable for derailments, make freight rail safer and provide Darlington and communities like it with the resources they need to recover. Every day that goes by without this bill becoming law is a day when another Pennsylvania community could be at risk. I’m not going to stop pushing for the Railway Safety Act, because it is long past time that big rail companies are subject to more than a slap on the wrist and because no community should have to suffer through the hell wrought by a hazardous derailment ever again.

Today I am thinking about the people of Darlington and the surrounding area who still live with the repercussions of Norfolk Southern’s trainwreck every day: the first responders who risked their lives, the farmers concerned about the safety of their crops, and the residents who fear potential exposures could lead to health problems for themselves and their families. No matter how long it takes, we need to make sure they don’t get left behind.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
Washington, D.C.