For all of Western Pennsylvania, the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, hits too close to home. Besides the major damage and destruction from the incident, there is a greater concern of protecting the health and safety of those in the region.

While this happened hours away from Warren County, derailments could take place wherever rail traffic happens — including right here at home. Recently, state Gov. Josh Shapiro visited areas impacted by the incident that include Beaver and Lawrence counties.

“Over the last year, my administration has made clear that we are focused on delivering the help our communities need, protecting the health and safety of Pennsylvanians, and holding Norfolk Southern accountable,” Shapiro said. “We organized independent water and soil sampling, and we put the results of that testing online so that our residents could see them for themselves; we already delivered more than $1.4 million for first responders to ensure they could afford new equipment after their old equipment was contaminated from the derailment; and we ensured families were made whole for their losses. My Administration will continue to work with our federal and local partners to support the people impacted by the derailment for as long as it is needed.”

In that area, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection), through an independent contractor, and Department of Agriculture continue to conduct precautionary environmental testing to ensure the health and safety of residents, with results posted publicly on DEP’s website.

To date, samples have been taken at 85 individual private potable water sources, 97 surface soil locations, 18 surface water locations, and 14 crop locations within the Commonwealth totaling hundreds of samples. Pennsylvania agencies have not found any long-term contamination related to the derailment in East Palestine.

That’s important for hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the region. Water is a precious commodity for everyone.

Just as important are the lessons and the work in the aftermath of the unfortunate incident. It’s something we hope we do not see in the near future.