Hey, it's Jen.

Just a quick heads up before we start the show.

The news is rapidly developing and things may have changed by the time you hear this episode.

For the very latest news tune into your public radio station and follow updates at npr.org.

What do you do when a train carrying toxic chemicals crashes in your town?

East Palistino, Ohio, was finding out the hard way.

The train derailed earlier this month, but the mess still isn't cleaned up.

Now officials are playing the blame game with East Palistino residents stuck in the middle.

Norfolk Southern Railways, the company that operated that train, their CEO, Alan Shaw, spoke with PBS NewsHour this week.

We're going to see this thing through.

That's my commitment to the community of East Palistino.

We're going to invest in the environmental cleanup.

We have made a lot of progress.

We've got air monitoring, water monitoring, we're coordinating with the Ohio EPA.

We're continuing to provide financial assistance for the citizens of this community.

The crash happened on the Pennsylvania border.

On Tuesday, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro announced he'd made a criminal referral in the case.

The combination of Norfolk Southerns, Corporate Green, in competence,

and lack of care for our residents is absolutely unacceptable to me.

What's next for East Palistino residents?

Trains roll through America's small towns every day, so who's responsible when things go so wrong?

We'll get into all that and more after the break.

...