District Attorneys Assess Wreck Site, Begin Mulling Legal Options

After conferring with his McKean County counter part, Cameron County District Attorney Tom Tompkins earlier this week announced that the top law enforcement offices of the two counties have begun a criminal investigation of the train crash and resulting chemical spill that took place near here June 30.

"In the interest of Cameron County as a whole, I am conducting an investigation into the criminal liability and potential remedial action

(resulting from the train crash)," Tompkins said. "My office will be working jointly with the McKean County District Attorney's office and closely with the Fish & Boat Commission, as well as the Department of Environmental Protection."

Since the crash occurred in McKean County, but most of the damage that resulted from the chemical spill was done in Cameron County, the DA's plan to work together, regardless of whose jurisdiction the potential cases end up being heard.

"This is going to take time," Tompkins noted. "But, I want the people of Cameron County to know that something is being done on their behalf to seek potential remedial action for Cameron County."

A Norfolk Southern freight train crashed near Gardeau on June 30. Three tankers cars, holding a combined 42,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide, were crushed, allowing the chemical to pour into tiny Big Fill Run and ultimately into the Portage Branch of the Sinnemahoning River.

With a pH level of 14, the corrosive liquid killed every living organism in the Portage, a class A wild trout stream, known for its particularly pristine water and its native brown trout, for at least seven miles. The chemical, which was diluted slightly as it made its way down stream, killed nearly everything for a several mile stretch below that and is believed to have killed tens of thousands of fish between the source and the Borough of Driftwood, 28 miles south on the Driftwood Branch of the Sinnemahoning River.

Norfolk Southern is reportedly cooperating with investigators from DEP who will file offenses under their own environmental regulations. The F&BC, meanwhile, is expected to file criminal charges against the company under state statutes.

There's still no word on what caused the train to crash.