Norfolk Southern hosts training, few responders attend, Republicans vote against railway transparency bill

Late last month, Norfolk Southern hosted three days of safety training in Harrisburg for emergency responders from across central Pennsylvania. The training provided by the company, which owns railroads stretching across the state and Lancaster County, is designed to familiarize firefighters and other responders with the types of railroad cars and other equipment that they may encounter in an emergency situation.

No responders from Lancaster County were at the Harrisburg training on the day that an LNP | LancasterOnline reporter and photographer were there. Only a handful of responders from the county attended on one of the other two days, according to emergency response officials who spoke with The Watchdog.

“The more we can learn about, in this case train cars, enhances our ability to be able to respond better to an emergency,” said Jay Barninger, emergency management coordinator for Columbia. “The more you know about something, the better equipped you'll be when the time occurs.”

The Watchdog called around and found only two people from the county who attended the July training in Harrisburg — the police and fire chiefs from Columbia.

Representatives of four other agencies, including the Lancaster County Emergency Management Agency, said they did not attend.

Barninger, who did not attend the late July training, said he is in discussion with Norfolk Southern about trying to schedule a training in Columbia so more Lancaster County responders can attend.

Gockley [Randy Gockley, the county’s former emergency management coordinator] said he did not attend the July training in Harrisburg but echoed Barninger’s description of how valuable the safety train sessions are in giving responders the opportunity to see the train equipment up close and work with the valves and cars they may see in an emergency.
[Excerpted from LNP, Aug. 13, 2023]


In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania House Bill 1028 proposes the creation of a database of hazardous material being transported through the state on railways; that database would be accessible to emergency management agencies.

Appallingly, four Lancaster County Republicans — state Reps. David Zimmerman, Keith Greiner, Brett Miller and Tom Jones — were among 62 votes against the bipartisan bill.

They should explain their “nay” votes to the Lancaster County residents who live near the railway lines on which hazardous materials are transported. And to the emergency responders who will rush to the scene should a train carrying those materials derail or crash.
[Source: LNP, July 30, 2023]