Darlingtown Township, PA - The Shapiro Administration announced today it will continue to offer services to Pennsylvania residents living near the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, by extending the operations at the Health Resource Center in Darlington Township, Beaver County, through Thursday, March 16.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) will operate the Health Resource Center with specific hours of operations Monday-Wednesday, March 13-15, from 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM and Thursday, March 16, from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Staff from DOH and the Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Protection (DEP) will be on site to answer questions and listen to concerns from residents affected by the derailment.
The Center has already provided help to 466 people through Thursday, March 9. Since the Center opened on February 28, people have signed up for soil and water quality testing through DEP and talked to experts about current soil, air, and water readings; been provided medical evaluations, emergency behavioral health evaluations, general public health information, and support with the Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) survey from health care representatives; and had their questions answered about pet safety, farm animal safety, and best farm practices by experts from the Department of Agriculture.
DOH staff is continuing to conduct ACE surveys among residents living near the derailment. In addition, DOH has begun surveying first responders who were on-site following the train derailment. DOH staff will be carefully assessing the surveys, which ask first responders questions about symptoms, experiences, and concerns about the impact of the train derailment on their lives as emergency personnel.
PEMA has established an online dashboard where the public can find one-stop-shop information on air and water testing, health resources, cleaning services, how to get in touch with Norfolk Southern and much more.
MEDIA CONTACT: Mark O'Neill - ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov
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