Engineer pleads guilty in train crash that fouled stream
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Associated Press
SMETHPORT, Pa. -- The engineer of a train that went out of control on a downhill grade, derailed and polluted a northwest Pennsylvania trout stream is facing jail time.
Michael Seifert of West Seneca, N.Y., pleaded guilty yesterday in McKean County Court to charges of causing a catastrophe and improperly disposing of hazardous waste in the June 2006 derailment. The 47-year-old Mr. Seifert was scheduled for trial Oct. 20.
Thousands of fish were killed when sodium hydroxide spilled into the stream near Gardeau, 135 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Norfolk Southern last year pleaded no contest to pollution charges, and agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle civil cases.
Mr. Seifert is sentenced to one year minus one day to two years minus two days in jail. He also must perform 600 hours of community service relating to environmental protection.
Norfolk Southern, engineer charges in derailment, spill By Ron DaParma TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, July 26, 2007
Buzz up!
State environmental crimes charges have been filed against Norfolk Southern Corp. and a former engineer who was at the helm of a train that derailed in June 2006, state Attorney General Tom Corbett said today.
The derailment spilled 42,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide waste into the soil, wetlands and waters of two counties in Northwestern Pennsylvania causing millions of dollars in damage and killing thousands of fish.
Corbett identified the engineer as Michael J. Seifert, 46, 79 Naples Drive, West Seneca, N.Y. Seifert was an engineer with Norfolk Southern Corp. for eight years prior to the accident, Corbett said.
His office launched an investigation based on a referral from the state Department of Environmental Protection following the derailment at Keating Summit, McKean County.
Evidence and testimony presented to a statewide investigating grand jury resulted in the charges being filed today, Corbett said.
According to the grand jury, on June 30, 2006, Seifert was operating a Norfolk Southern train down Keating Summit at a top speed of 76 miles per hour when 31 cars derailed.
The speed limit on that stretch of tracks is 15 miles per hour, Corbett said.
The grand jury found that Seifert appeared incoherent at times and fell asleep prior to the derailment. Several hours after the accident, morphine and benzodiazepines were detected in Seifert's bloodstream. Corbett said that Seifert had been disciplined by Norfolk Southern in the past for similar conduct.
In March 2007, Seifert was charged with two counts of risking a catastrophe and one count of reckless endangerment by the McKean County District Attorney's Office.
Seifert has posted bail and is awaiting trial on those charges.
The grand jury determined that four of the 31 derailed cars contained sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda or lye. The sodium hydroxide had a pH level higher than 12.5, which under state and federal regulations made it a hazardous substance.
Corbett said that 42,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide was dumped out of the train cars into Big Fill Run and then carried downstream to Sinnemahoning Portage Creek. Over eight miles of streams in McKean and Cameron County were devastated by the spill.
"Prior to the derailment, the upper reaches of Sinnemahoning Portage Creek had the state's highest quality water rating and four miles of Class A wild trout that attracted anglers throughout the country," Corbett said. "Because of the defendants' criminal actions, the stream's ecosystem was completely destroyed."
Seifert is charged with two felony counts of unlawful dumping of hazardous waste and one misdemeanor count unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act. He is also charged with one misdemeanor count of unlawful conduct under the Clean Streams Law.
Norfolk Southern, Norfolk, Va., is charged with two misdemeanor counts of unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act.
