Norfolk Southern Corporation President and CEO, Alan Shaw, reacts as he testifies before a US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing on the environmental and public health threats from the Norfolk Southern February 3 train derailment, on March 9, 2023, in Washington, DC.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
A Norfolk Southern freight train derailed Saturday morning in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, spilling diesel and plastic pellets into the nearby river, according to local authorities.
No injuries were reported upon a preliminary assessment of the scene, according to police and fire rescue departments in the Lower Saucon Township where the derailment took place.
The Saturday incident comes just over a year after Norfolk Southern’s trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2023, releasing toxic chemicals into the surrounding water and air, and setting off a damaging fire. Days later, officials said the town had increased reports of headaches, nausea and other symptoms from residents.
The Pennsylvania derailment has not triggered the same contamination so far, according to preliminary assessments. Still, the derailment comes as Norfolk Southern faces a determined activist group, led by Ancora Holdings, which has amassed a $1 billion stake in the company to oust CEO Alan Shaw.
“There currently are no evacuations or hazardous material threat to the community,” the Lower Saucon Township Police Department said in a statement at 11 a.m. ET, hours after first responders were dispatched. “We request that everyone stay out of the area so first responders and Norfolk Southern personnel can continue to assess and work at the scene.”
Emergency responders deployed “containment booms,” barriers used to control the spread of oil, in the Lehigh River where there was a diesel fuel spill from one of the train cars, police said. One of the train cars also released a heap of polypropylene plastic pellets.
Norfolk Southern’s crews joined local emergency…
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