- Norfolk Southern train derailed in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania
- Train cars plunged into the Lehigh River on Saturday morning
- Norfolk Southern CEO Alan H. Shaw saw his pay rise to $1.1 million in 2023, the same year of the East Palestine derailment
A Norfolk Southern freight train has veered off its tracks and plunged into a river in Pennsylvania.
The derailment occurred near the 2200 block of Riverside Drive in Lower Saucon Township on Saturday morning.
No injuries or leaks have been reported as of yet. Officers believe three cars may have come off the tracks and possibly rolled over.
Dramatic images show the locomotive partially submerged in the Lehigh River.
It comes just days after it emerged that Norfolk Southern CEO Alan H. Shaw received a 37 percent pay rise in 2023, the same year his company was involved in another environmentally disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
A Norfolk Southern freight train has veered off its tracks and plunged into a river in Pennsylvania
The derailment occurred near the 2200 block of Riverside Drive in Lower Saucon Township on Saturday morning
Shaw’s total compensation hit an eyewatering $13.4 million in 2023.
Meanwhile, some East Palestine residents are still yet to return to their homes after thousands were forced to flee when the derailment dumped thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.
Rivers were polluted and hundreds of locals complained of ill health.
The train was carrying 700,000 pounds of vinyl chloride when 53 of its carriages derailed on February 3, 2023.
No injuries were directly reported at the time, but the cocktail of chemicals caused a huge fire forcing locals to evacuate.
As well as being ecologically damaging, the derailment cost Norfolk Southern an estimated $1.1 billion and sent share prices plummeting by more than a fifth in the two months after the disaster.
Still Shaw was awarded the hefty pay rise, taking his base salary rose up by $200,000 to $1.1 million, while his stock and option awards rose $2.2 million to $10 million.
It comes just days after it emerged that Norfolk Southern CEO Alan H. Shaw received a 37 percent pay rise in the same year his company was involved in a derailment in East Palestine, Ohio
The decision was slammed by the railroad union Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
‘It’s alarming that the board rewarded Mr. Shaw with a massive raise and total compensation of $13.4 million during the same year he presided over industry-worst operating results, sustained underperformance and a tone-deaf response to the derailment in East Palestine,’ the group told CNN in a statement.
‘This failure of corporate governance … reinforces the need for sweeping changes to Norfolk Southern’s well paid board.’
The union is calling to replace Shaw with Jim Barber Jr., a former chief operating officer at UPS.
Air and water tests that state and federal health officials have been conducting haven’t shown concerning levels of vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate or other chemicals in more than 115 million measurements since an evacuation order imposed after the derailment was lifted.
However, locals are still concerned about potential health risks, often noting a chemical sheen atop the creeks that flow through the town of 5,000 people.
The railroad company estimated that the cleanup would cost $800 million, which included $74 million Norfolk Southern pledged to help East Palestine recover.
It promised to spend $25 million refurbishing the town’s park and another $4.3 million to upgrade its water treatment system.
The railroad is spending another $20 million to build a regional training center for first responders to help prepare them to deal with the kind of hazardous materials that spilled in the derailment.
It took President Biden more than a year to visit the site. He spent barely two hours there before before leaving to spend the holiday weekend at his beachside home.
Locals made their feelings clear about the delayed visit. His motorcade ran a gauntlet of banners proclaiming, ‘Too Little, Too Late,’ and the streets were lined with people shouting, ‘F*** you.’
