GOOD EVENING. I’M JANELLE HALL. THERE’S NO DOUBT THE FIERY TRAIN DERAILMENT AND TOXIC CHEMICAL SPILL ON FEBRUARY 3RD, 20, 23, HAS HAD A LASTING IMPACT. OVER THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS, WE’VE REPORTED ON THE WAY PEOPLE’S LIVES HAVE CHANGED IN THE COMMUNITIES OF EAST PALESTINE, OHIO, AND IN PARTS OF BEAVER COUNTY RIGHT HERE IN PENNSYLVANIA. THERE’S NO DOUBT THE IMPACT WILL LAST FOR MONTHS, EVEN YEARS TO COME. AND MAJOR QUESTIONS ARE EMERGING IN OTHER COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE PITTSBURGH METRO AREA, INCLUDING COULD WHAT HAPPENED IN EAST PALESTINE HAPPEN HERE AND WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF IT DID. HERE AT FOX HOLLOW STABLES IN BEAVER COUNTY, THE DAY OF THE BLAST, WE WEREN’T REALLY TOLD ANYTHING FOR OUR AREA. IT WAS THE 1 TO 2 MILE EVACUATION. BUT BEING EIGHT AND A HALF MILES AWAY, WE WERE TOLD WE WERE GOING TO BE FINE. I’VE BEEN HERE FOR 27 YEARS. THAT WASN’T THE CASE FOR LINDA STEVENS HORSES. WE HAD 28 RIGHT NOW OR HER FAMILY, MAYBE 5 MINUTES AFTER BEING OUT IN THE SMOKE. MY LUNGS STARTED BURNING, MY EYES STARTED RUNNING. WE CAME IN TO THE BARNS AND YOU COULD. SEE THE SMOKE IN THE BARN. THE SMOKE JUST DESCENDED UPON OUR FARM. AS THE DARK CLOUD FROM THE CONTROLLED BURN OF VINYL CHLORIDE. INSIDE SOME OF THE DERAILED TRAIN CARS IN EAST PALESTINE, OHIO MOVED INTO PENNSYLVANIA. THEY RACED TO PROTECT THE HORSES THEY OWN, BOARD AND TRAIN. THERE WAS NO WARNING FOR US, NOT EVEN A SHELTER IN PLACE WHICH WOULD HAVE PREVENTED OR POSSIBLY PREVENTED A LOT OF THE ISSUES THAT WE’VE HAD. I’M STILL HAVING TROUBLE BREATHING. I’M STILL NOT BACK TO 100%. I CAN’T WORK AND TALK OR I GET WINDED. AND IT’S IT DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN THAT WAY. HAD WE HAD MORE NOTICE AND MORE BEEN MORE PREPARED. SOME OF THE HORSES STILL STRUGGLE WITH BREATHING ISSUES DURING THEIR LESSONS AND TRAINING. THIS IS DEWEY. HE’S ONE OF THE ONES THAT IS STILL AFFECTED. STILL HAVING HARSH LUNG SOUNDS AND BREATHING ISSUES. WE HAVE PUT HER ON A PRETTY HIGH DOSE OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES. WHEN STEVENS TRIED TO GET ANSWERS, I HAVE CALLED EVERY OFFICE SO THAT I COULD THINK OF GOVERNMENTAL E A D P TOXICOLOGIST, SENATORS, GOV, LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE. MY OWN VETERINARIAN. EVERY PHONE CALL LED BACK TO THE TOXIC BIOLOGIST FROM NORFOLK SOUTHERN. I TALKED TO TWO SEPARATE LAB. NOW I’VE TALKED TO THREE SEPARATE TOXICOLOGISTS THERE WHO STEVENS SAYS TOLD HER THE SMOKE WAS NOTHING DIFFERENT THAN FOREST FIRE. SMOKE. AND, YOU KNOW, IT SHOULD BE THE WORST. THEY SHOULD HAVE THE SAME RESPONSE TO THAT. AND I SAID, WELL, THEY WEREN’T BURNING LOGS. YOU KNOW, THIS WAS NOT A FOREST FIRE. THESE WERE CHEMICALS. AND THEY HE SAID THERE WERE NO CHEMICALS IN THAT SMOKE, IS WHAT I WAS TOLD. AND YOU THINK WHAT, YOU CAN’T BELIEVE THEM? THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE IN THAT SMOKE. THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION OF ONE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST AND PARALEGAL, ERIN BROCKOVICH. THIS GOES BACK TO OVERSIGHT AND LACK OF ENFORCEMENT. AND WHEN A DISASTER HAPPENS, IT ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE THE POLLUTERS IN CHARGE. THAT HAS TO CHANGE. ONE OF MY QUESTIONS TO THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA IS SOME TYPE OF REASSURANCE THAT IN THE FUTURE THAT WE WILL BE PROTECT DID IN A DISASTER. BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WE WEREN’T STEVENS CONCERN ECHOED THOSE OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE EVACUATION ZONE AS WELL, WHO WENT DAYS WITHOUT CLEAR ANSWERS ABOUT WHAT WAS OR WASN’T IN THE AIR, SOIL AND WATER. THOSE CONCERNS LED CHRONICLE TO QUESTION WHAT THE EMERGENCY PLANS ARE IN AND AROUND OUR AREA. I KEEP GETTING ASKED THE QUESTION, ARE WE READY FOR THIS IN PITTSBURGH FROM THE 1.3 MILLION PEOPLE WHO CALL ALLEGHENY COUNTY HOME? WE HAVE TO BE PREPARED FOREVER. TO EVERYONE IN THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES, THERE’S A LOT OF THINGS THAT KEEP US UP AT NIGHT AND MAKE US WORRY AND THINK WE HAD TO EVACUATE ONE MILE CIRCUMFERENCE IN THE CITY, THOUGH THAT THAT’S TENS OF. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. THAT WOULD INCLUDE POSSIBLY HOSPITALS THAT HAVE TO BE EVACUATED. UNIVERSITY. MAY HAVE TO BE EVACUATED DEPENDING ON WHERE THIS HAPPENS. THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF HIGH RISES AND SENIOR CARE HOMES, FACILITIES OR PERSONAL CARE FACILITIES AND PERSONAL RESIDENCE. SO, YEAH, THERE’S A BIG CHALLENGE THERE. OUR KEY IS GOING TO BE COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY IN A VERY QUICK MANNER TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN ABOUT THE HAZARDS RELATED, THE RIGHT INCIDENT. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO HAVE ACCESS TO A SYSTEM CALLED PAUSE WHERE WE CAN PUT OUT THAT ALERT MESSAGING SIMILAR TO AN AMBER ALERT, WHERE YOU’LL GET THAT ALERT ON YOUR CELL PHONE. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE THAT WE’VE BEEN PRACTICING PUBLIC RECORDS OBTAINED BY CHRONICLE SHOW. ALL COUNTIES ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE A MINIMUM OF ONE TEAM WHO CAN RESPOND AND MITIGATE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN HAZARDOUS MATERIAL INCIDENTS. ALLEGHENY COUNTY ALONE HAS FIVE, BUT IS ALSO PART OF THE PA REGION 13 TASK FORCE MADE UP OF FIRST RESPONDERS WHO MEET ON A MONTHLY BASIS. FROM MERCER ALL THE WAY DOWN TO SOMERSET COUNTY, WE COORDINATE, PLAN AND EXERCISE, TRAIN AND FUND ALL OF THOSE EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPACITIES FOR SOUTHWESTERN PA. SO THERE’S THIS HUGE NETWORK OF SUPPORT OF PLANNING, OF PREPAREDNESS, OF RESPONSE THAT EXISTS IN SOUTHWESTERN P.A. QUITE FRANKLY, UNLIKE PROBABLY ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY. IT’S A VERY WELL COORDINATED GROUP OF FOLKS. SO WE’RE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, ROADWAY TRAFFIC, RIVER TRAFFIC, YOU KNOW, THE AIR TRAVEL AND CERTAINLY TRAINS, WHICH IS CERTAINLY THE FOCUS NOW. BUT THAT GIVES US AN IDEA OF HOW WE PLAN AND PREPARE. FOR THE THREATS AND RISKS THAT WE KNOW OF THAT JUST TRANSIT THROUGH THE COUNTY EVERY DAY. THIS LATEST SCARE ACROSS STATE LINES ALSO HAS LINDA STEPHENS FOCUSED ON THE EMERGENCY PLANS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS AND HER OWN FAMILY. THAT TRAIN THAT DERAILED IN EAST PALESTINE WOULD HAVE COME RIGHT PAST US. SO AND IT WAS ON ITS WAY THROUGH HERE WHEN IT DERAILED. AND THERE’S THE CRACKER PLANT. THERE’S THE NUCLEAR PLANT THAT ARE YOU KNOW, WITHIN A SHORT AMOUNT OF DISTANCE THAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED THERE, ARE WE GOING TO BE WARNED? ARE WE GOING TO BE PROTECTED? YOU KNOW, ARE THEY GOING TO RESPOND THE WAY THEY SHOULD? IT’S SCARY. IT’S