CONTACT: Sarah McBride
Program Coordinator, Media and Public Engagement
[email protected]
(617) 918-7241
WHAT: On Tuesday, March 14 at 1 PM ET, Moms from Southwest Pennsylvania and the Ohio River Valley will attend the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic and Republican Policy Committees hearing in Beaver County on the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster that unfolded only 1,000 feet from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The committees are set to meet with local and state officials to discuss the impacts that this chemical release is having on Pennsylvania residents.
WHO: Moms from Southwest Pennsylvania and the Ohio River Valley who have been impacted by chemical pollution are set to attend the hearing in-person and will be available for interviews. They include:
- Rachel Meyer, Moms’ Ohio River Valley organizer, who lives about 20 miles from the site of the chemical disaster in East Palestine. Rachel’s home is also located a short distance from the Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, which spews large quantities of toxic pollution into the surrounding community. Despite only having come online in the fall of 2022, the plant has already exceeded its annual pollution allowances.
- Patrice Tomcik, our Senior National Field Manager lives in Gibsonia, PA. Her sons, one of whom is a cancer survivor, go to school about half a mile away from oil and gas wells.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 14 at 1 PM ET.
WHERE: The hearing will take place at the Darlington Fire Company: 3590 Darlington Rd., Darlington, PA. Live video of the hearing will be available here.
RESOURCES:
- Pennsylvania Statement: Pennsylvania Moms Impacted by Toxic Pollution Will Attend EPW Senate Hearing on Ohio Train Derailment & Chemical Disaster; Contact Us for Interviews
- National February 15 Statement: Moms speak out about Ohio train derailment, calling on EPA and government to protect communities from petrochemical pollution
- National March 9 Statement: East Palestine Moms head to the Senate to deliver a message: The entire petrochemical industry is dangerous to our health
- Fact Sheet: Petrochemical Pollution and Our Health
- Blog Post: Ohio Train Derailment Highlights Toxic Plastic Pollution
- Petition: Protect People from the Disastrous Petrochemical Industry