Cue outraged conservatives who can't believe Shapiro would waste taxpayer funds on water testing after Norfolk Southern already told us it's fine.

I'm glad PA is taking this step. I heard an interesting discussion on NPR today. It's not up on the site yet, I'll look for it tomorrow. I really don't want to misquote what the expert said about some of the chemicals.

I would really like to hear that. Do you remember what NPR program the interview was on? I could look it up.

I wish I did. The interviewer was a woman, and she had two guests, both men. I checked the site, and there was an article listed, but the interviewer was a man. This was today, and I am not sure how long it takes WESA to archive their shows.

EDIT: u/GSDBUZZ u/xxdropdeadlexi I tried looking the NPR schedule over for yesterday. I tend to listen while I'm working and don't really track the shows. I did two webinars yesterday. So, my listening time was 10AM - 1PM and 3PM - 5PM. I am so sorry I couldn't find the show!

Do you remember what time it was? I could look up the WESA schedule to find the program.

The arguments will contain the following:

“Didn’t happen in my state! Not my tax dollars! Lock him up!”

Ground water and tributaries/streams obviously stop at invisible borders.

And this is why I'm glad we have Shapiro as governor!

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But Doug was on the scene kicking rocks into a creek with his loafers.

Are you so stuck in the party mindset that you genuinely think a republican person doesn’t give a shit about a potential water quality issues!? Geez.

Just as Jeebus would have done.

Thankfully, the definition included in the PA Clean Streams Law includes groundwater and all tributaries/streams. There have been rumblings for decades regarding paring down the definition to match "waters of the United States", which limits what waters are covered under the regs. I'll give you one guess which political party wants to amend the law. It's also very interesting that a certain political party wants to limit what is and is not pollution in our state. In their proposed bill, the polluter gets to decide whether they are polluting...

https://www.palegis.us/bills/?q=2021/0/N/HB1842

Not more than they give a shit about money.

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The point perhaps, is they’ll find something to complain about

Go ahead and clutch those pearls, but here is an example from yesterday in this very subreddit:

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says his office made a criminal referral in East Palestine train derailment

> Ok. But can he worry about our state?

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Also, Meet the Four Republican Lawmakers Who Want to Abolish the EPA.

I'd really like to listen, too! it would be nice to listen to experts who know about clean up instead of just people who work for the railroad.

The better question is after what they find, how much money is going to be spent prosecuting this company and it's negligence? That's what I'm more interested in.

This type of thinking has always been brain dead. "You're worried about the tsunami in Japan while we just had the biggest oil spill here in the South?"

Yes, as an adult, we can think about more than 1 thing at a time.

The maximum fine possible is $225,455, unfortunately

Another law that needs to be changed

I thought it was selfish racist xenophobic etc to not trust the govt. EPA says they are good so they are good, they dont have to test the water or have politicians drink it. The govt says take a shot you take a shot, govt says air and water are good then thats whats true. I dont understand whats going on here? The govt just saved millions of us from covid let them do their thing and stop thinking about it. Jesus.

I mean, that’s one comment. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget the lack of oversight & pressure upon NFS to manage its lines here in PA to a higher degree. There is obvious negligence, which is what I’m hoping this person is referring. We need to avoid this happening again, here in PA. I don’t oppose testing like this.. in fact I love it, but a lot of what Shapiro (and many politicians) have done here is basically put on a show to prove how it wasn’t their fault. Regardless of any of that, this “team” mindset I see just constantly is gross. It’s like each of your “groups” views the other as some lower form of being. Get over yourselves.

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> but a lot of what Shapiro (and many politicians) have done here is basically put on a show to prove how it wasn’t their fault.

Thank you for proving my point. This is an absolute clown take. The only person you're fooling with your fake nonpartisan act is yourself.

Do you genuinely feel as if your government is doing everything they can to ensure your safety with your best interest in mind in regards to transportation/infrastructure issues, healthcare issues, environmental issues? Our Commonwealth has been very lax as of late with a lot of these things & it’s somehow a “clown take” to say that the Gov of the Commonwealth might have an interst in making sure no spotlight falls on Harrisburg!?

Schizophrenic bud?

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Let's not use mental illness as an attack

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In an early press conference, DeWine said both he and Shapiro were given the options by Norfolk Southern, and "they" decided to move forward with the vent and burn. Skip to 7:20 for DeWine's opening remarks.

But I can't find any information on who actually has the authority to make that decision. Even if both governors support the plan, is it their call to make? Or is that decision up to Norfolk Southern, EPA, NTSB?

I can't tell if DeWine is saying he and Shapiro gave official approval for NS to process with the vent and burn, or is he saying both he and Shapiro were advised of the plan and did not object to it? That's the biggest question: in what capacity did Shapiro and DeWine actually "approve" of the plan?

Hey dewine - how about Ohio doing the same, or did the railroad tell you not to.

If it is ongoing pollution, PA can assess $10,000 per day per violation.