Publisher's Point Of View
Robert Allan Hooftallen

I woke at 2:50-something Friday morning thinking about how we'd cover the train crash that happened just before press time last week.

I had put it as far out of my mind as humanly possible for nearly a week. The holiday weekend combined with a birthday present trip to see a Pirates game with my wife occupied me for several days. I just didn't feel like working.

But, still I couldn't quit thinking about it. High above the parking lot of the Spring Hill Suites in Pittsburgh, I plugged this machine into an ethernet cord and with amazing ease I had web (internet) access.

I checked my mail and got the news. It was worse than I had thought, or even imagined for that matter.

On the morning of the crash, I was able to reach the site, despite its difficult location. I was promptly met by Port Allegany firemen who, in retrospect, rightfully so, insisted I advance no further because there had been a toxic spill. I wasn't accepting denial in any form that morning so I insisted and they conceded.

I ran 100 yards closer to the mess and took the photos I thought I needed. Besides the hundreds of tons of crinkled and toppled rail cars, it really didn't seem like anything was out of order.

With our 11 a.m. press deadline having passed before I even made it out of the woods, I was pressed to get back in this seat and do what I'm trying to do now- finish the paper.

As I tried to do that, the phone here kept ringing and visitors kept visiting. They were all saying the same thing: the toxic spill was real and it was serious.

I pretty much ignored them, my second error in judgment that day, it turns out. I should have halted everything and held out for more information on the crash. I should have waited a full day, perhaps.

That realization hit me as I made my break for home and a long weekend that evening. As I passed Portage Creek, I was totally shocked by its condition. I wanted to bring the paper back from the printers and report more of the story.

Instead, I retreated to Hooftallen Heights with the promise of Independence Day and a day at the ballpark on my mind. Still, thoughts of this place, its people and its future were close at my mind's hand.

My gut instincts were trying to tell me there was/is a lot at stake here. And that the story of the train that crashed and spilled sodium hydroxide was not one that would soon go away.

And so here we are, smack dab in the middle of something that always happens somewhere else.

Here's how I see it.

The pH level in the stream, generically and even inaccurately referred to as "water quality," will adjust itself just fine. All but the first mile or so of the stream is within normal pH ranges now.

Norfolk Southern would have us believe that its their efforts that have improved the pH quality in the streams. Not so. Mother Nature has taken care of the vast majority of the pH imbalance.

It is true that Norfolk Southern had local contractor George Brown dig a sedimentation dam, where, in theory, the sodium hydroxide, which is heavier than water, will settle at the bottom and improved water will run out of drain pipes positioned higher on the dam wall.

They also claim to have added citric acid to the marshy area surrounding the spill site in an effort to decrease the pH level of the water.

But let's be very clear: that's all Norfolk Southern did to attempt to mitigate the disaster.

To me, it was very apparent what their main objective was: clearing and fixing the rail so they could continue to haul on that line.

So far, Norfolk Southern has done absolutely nothing to spread the word about chemical spill they caused. Our state and local agencies have done that for them.

Sure, they brought in a private laboratory firm to take water samples. But, do you think they did that with the interest of the stream and the environment in mind, or do you think they did that so their experts could later present expert testimony that does not match the test results of those taken by DEP?

Norfolk Southern presumes we are both stupid and apathetic. They are saying nothing. They are releasing nothing. They are making sure they don't stir the waters in hopes that this incident in our backyard will go away.

They are no strangers to this situation. This isn't their first time around with chemical spills.

This is a tactical game to them and it's a game that, in my opinion, they are already winning.

I'll elaborate.

When a Norfolk Southern representative finally made it to Cameron County on Thursday, our commissioners met with him, Emporium Borough officials, DEP officials, Echo editor Bruce Whitman and a handful of emergency services leaders in a behind-closed-doors meeting that clearly violated the state's Sunshine Act.

I interrupted the private session to announce that, besides being extremely rude and discourteous, the meeting was illegal. I asked if I could stay and was given permission to do so with one rule: I couldn't report what was talked about. I left.

Of course, I am a lowly reporter who is just looking to give them a hard time. I could not possibly understand the complexities of the situation enough to comprehend why the lords needed privacy from the peasants.

I'll never choke down any reason given to me for that closed door session. It served only Norfolk Southern. Why do I say that?

Because when the brain trust exited the room, not one of them had anything even slightly critical to say, or ask of, the Norfolk Southern representative. He had already won them over in that room. He had already won round one.

I'll bet he was delighted to realize that no one in the room had done a moments research about his company, its power and its annoying little tendency to leave toxic waste in other people's backyards and then try to smooth it over with PR machines.

Here's the bottom line:

Yes. Someone has to haul those kinds of chemicals; the proverbial "dirty job, but someone's go to do it."

Norfolk Southern has chosen to haul toxins and they know very well the risks that go with it. They pay as much liability insurance as any company on the fortune 500, I guarantee it.

Cameron County is clearly an innocent victim here. Norfolk Southern knows that.

And they are wise enough to know that there is not a judge in any court in this country that won't see it that way.

But, every person they charm, cajole, fool our wait-out over time, is a victory for them.

They got a good start here Thursday.

Oh, and when the meeting did finally open in the public, do you believe that one of the experts on chemistry worked for the Center For Toxicology and Environmental Health? Sounds very official and governmental, huh?

Not. It's a private company hired by Norfolk Southern. And had I not asked that question specifically, it would not have been offered, I guarantee it.

Norfolk Southern owes a huge debt to this county. Their error resulted in our horror. And there's simply no other way to say that.

And one last thing. If you were in this beautiful place at this beautiful time representing a company that just wiped out the better part of a Class A Wild Trout Stream, wouldn't you first and foremost offer an apology?

Guess what? No such luck.

That would be admitting that Norfolk Southern had done something wrong and there is no chance we'll ever hear those words.