(The Associated Press circulated the following on July 25.)
CROSBY, Pa. — State prosecutors have charged Norfolk Southern with violating environmental laws in a train derailment that spilled harmful chemicals into a pristine trout stream last year, killing fish as far as 30 miles downstream.
The Norfolk, Va.-based railroad was charged Wednesday with two counts of unlawful conduct and one count of polluting waters. The case is based on findings made by an investigative grand jury.
The train derailed June 30, 2006, near the village of Gardeau, in rural north-central Pennsylvania, killing fish in several high-quality creeks.
Rudy Husband, a Norfolk Southern spokesman, said the charges were not a surprise. He said the company would work with the attorney general to resolve the issue.
Husband said the company has invested nearly $4 million to “restore the areas and waterways affected by the incident.” The cleanup was completed last month, and the most recent survey done of Portage Creek shows it has recovered from the spill, he said.
Wildlife Conservation Officer Robert Mader said on the day of the derailment the water at Big Fill Run and Sinnemahoning Portage Creek smelled like “opening a can of Drano,” and was tea-colored and almost black in some areas.
Norfolk Southern made no efforts to prevent harmful chemicals from streaming into the waters, Mader said. “This continuous and daily discharge … continued until at least Aug. 27, 2006,” the affidavit states.
The grand jury has also recommended environmental charges being brought against Michael Seifert, the engineer who was operating the train at the time of the derailment. Seifert has already been charged with causing or risking a catastrophe and reckless endangerment.