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Las Vegas, Nevada: For over three decades, Las Vegas AC Repair has been providing top-notch air conditioning, heating, and indoor air quality solutions to residents in and around Las Vegas. The company prides itself on its professional, trustworthy, and honest approach, treating each client with the care and attention they deserve.

The team of highly trained technicians at Las Vegas AC Repair is dedicated to delivering exceptional customer service and is equipped to handle a wide range of services, including HVAC repairs and installations for residential and commercial properties, as well as maintenance services to keep HVAC systems running smoothly and efficiently.

At Las Vegas AC Repair, customer satisfaction is always a top priority. The team of highly trained professionals is dedicated to delivering exceptional service that meets clients’ individual needs, preferences, and budgets. They understand the value of time and strive to always arrive on schedule, ensuring a stress-free experience.

The company provides reliable ac repair Las Vegas using only the finest parts and equipment to deliver reliable and effective solutions for all types of HVAC systems. The experienced Las Vegas AC Repair technicians are fully trained and equipped to handle any AC issue, from fixing strange noises and refrigerant leaks to addressing problems with sensors and drainage.

They start each job by conducting a thorough inspection to identify the root cause of the issue and determine the best solution. Once the repair is complete, the technicians will test the system to ensure it’s operating smoothly and efficiently before leaving the job site.

Las Vegas AC Repair has the expertise and equipment to keep each client’s indoor climate comfortable and safe. In addition to repairs, the company offers a range of services designed to keep HVAC systems running smoothly and save clients money in the long run. This includes preventative maintenance, ductwork including installation, cleaning and repair, and energy-efficient upgrades.

“We’ll arrive at your residence on schedule as well as work with your demands, choices, and spending plan to make certain that you’re completely pleased with our work! Every job by Las Vegas AC Repair is backed with our Guarantee. We likewise value your time as highly as we value our own. So, if we do not get to your residence when you expect, we’ll pay you back.”Said the company representative.

For those unexpected emergencies, Las Vegas AC Repair is available 24/7 to respond to HVAC repair needs. The company’s technicians are also readily available to answer any questions, address concerns and provide clarifications.

For more information about Las Vegas AC Repair or to schedule a service with one of their experienced technicians, call 7257772698. The company is located at 7375 South Pecos Road, 103, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89120, US.

Media Contact

Company Name
Las Vegas AC Repair
Contact Name
Tyler Hedland
Phone
7257772698
Address
7375 South Pecos Road, 103
City
Las Vegas
State
Nevada
Postal Code
89120
Country
United States
Website
https://lasvegasacrepair.com/

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At first glance, a local news station in San Diego seemed to be airing a soft news piece helping viewers achieve their new year’s resolutions. The host for San Diego Living, a CBS8 program that sometimes airs sponsored content, said their next guest, a celebrity TV star, would deliver fun facts about healthy living and showcase some recipes.

Then, they dove in. The next four minutes were indistinguishable from an ad, paid for by the propane industry. The show’s host made a brief disclosure at the beginning, but after that, viewers would have had to read the tiny fine print on screen that the chef Dean Sheremet was there on behalf of the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC). By the time it aired in February, Sheremet had already taken to multiple local programs touting the benefits of cooking with gas and propane.

For both the propane and gas industries, stoves serve the same purpose: They are an important tool to turn opinion against climate campaigners trying to electrify buildings, so that eventually they’re powered by solar and wind. It drives a wedge for people who would otherwise likely support these climate solutions, warning them they’ll lose their beloved stove if they support climate activists.

For years, gas groups have hired influencers to help ward off gas bans in cities. Recently, the strategy has changed. Their pitch used to focus on arguing that gas was the superior fuel for cooking. Now they are instead pushing back squarely on air-quality concerns. Influencers are helping the industry argue to the public that it’s really the individual who’s the problem, not the product. They ignore that the product itself produces carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and benzene by combusting fossil fuels, instead arguing that chefs are simply using the wrong cooking oils or heating food at the wrong temperature.

The shift in rhetoric is a signal of just how worried the industry is that its most reliably popular appliance is losing ground. No other appliance captures the American imagination quite like the gas stove. But as important as public opinion is to the fate of the stove, it’s also more fickle than the industry’s stronghold on lobbying. So when the fossil fuel industry tries to take its case directly to the consumer, it has often relied on paid influencers to deliver the message.

The industry is blaming the cook for the gas stove’s problems

The face of the propane industry’s recent campaign is Dean Sheremet, a celebrity chef who is also known for his divorce from the singer LeAnn Rimes. He stars in a Fox show called My Kitchen Rules and has had appearances on a number of other networks.

His latest business venture has been with the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), a trade association made up of propane companies. Propane is a petroleum gas, a slightly distinct category from natural gas, and the smaller fuel source of the two used in just 5 percent of homes. Otherwise, propane and natural gas share the same characteristics as any kind of fossil fuel combustion.

PERC in the past has hired other TV personalities, like HGTV’s Matt Blashaw and science communicator Emily Calandrelli, to appear in sponsored ads on propane used for home heating and school buses. PERC confirmed to Vox that it “engaged with Dean Sheremet to educate consumers about the benefits of cooking with propane and to share best practices for cooking indoors.”

Appearing in a kitchen equipped with a ducted range hood and a propane placard propped in the background, Sheremet responded directly to the ongoing storm over indoor air quality. “I love propane,” the influencer said in multiple scripts. “They are absolutely safe.”

In the CBS San Diego segment, Sheremet said, “as a father of a 4-year-old, indoor air quality and just health in general is paramount for me.” He went on to advise viewers to turn on their hood or open a door for ventilation, but also “making sure we’re cooking with the proper oils at the proper temperature. You’re not just reaching for that bottle of olive oil, chucking in the pan and cranking it up and creating a bunch of smoke and fumes inside your home kitchen.”

Dean Sheremet, a celebrity chef, appeared on a local station in San Diego promoting cooking with gas. The sponsorship by Propane Education & Research Council appears in fine print.

Screenshot from CBS8

Sheremet appeared on Everyday Northwest to promote cooking with gas.

Screenshot from KOIN

On another segment aired on Everyday Northwest, a Portland-area program on KOIN, he noted, “there’s been a lot of misinformation and hysteria in the news and there’s been a lot of competing studies and I know that there’s further review that’s going to be needed. But for me as a chef, I want to teach people how to effectively cook and realize no matter what cooking source you’re using, you’re going to impact your interior air quality.”

In this segment, Sheremet’s relationship with PERC wasn’t disclosed at all. When Vox reached out for comment from the station, the show host and producer Ashley Howard replied, “This was not a sponsored piece for us. We do not have knowledge of the working relationship between Dean Sheremet and the Propane Education & Research Council.”

Sheremet did not respond to Vox’s requests for comment. PERC confirmed it did not pay Everyday Northwest for the segment, which was set up by a PR company.

At least seven of these segments aired on local stations after the recent controversy over gas stoves, several of them in markets where cities are considering phasing out gas and propane in new construction. Meanwhile, other segments did not clearly disclose Sheremet’s connection to PERC. The Hampton Roads Show notes his sponsorship in fine print. At no point in the interviews did Sheremet volunteer that he was working for PERC, aside from a small placard in his kitchen saying “propane.”

The blurry world of sponsored content, expert opinion, and faulty claims could pose legal and ethical problems for the propane and gas industry.

Gas stove influencers blur the lines of what’s ethical and legal

Gas stove influencers have been around for years. What’s new about Sheremet is the abrupt shift in content. “Previously we’ve seen influencers hired to talk up the benefits of cooking and the performance of stoves, and we’ve seen influencers on TikTok and other social media platforms discussing why they love cooking with gas,” said Charlie Spatz, a researcher with the fossil fuel watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute.

What’s especially new here, Spatz explained, is an influencer blaming the user. Earlier influencer campaigns by the American Gas Association and American Public Gas Association promoted stoves as stylish, accessible, and cool. Influencers often didn’t have the recommended range hoods that even the industry says is necessary to promote safe indoor air quality. Industry leaders often preferred to stay away from the indoor air quality debate entirely, like Sue Kristjansson, now president of Berkshire Gas, arguing in a 2021 email, “If we wait to promote natural gas stoves until we have scientific data that they are not causing any air quality issues we’ll be done.”

The calculus has clearly changed. Air quality was at the forefront of Sheremet’s recent appearances, but his emphasis is on user error rather than the appliance. For example, Sheremet noted in multiple appearances that all cooking produces emissions, and the type of cooking oil matters more. This is not true. While all cooking can produce some particulate matter, fossil fuel combustion adds emissions that would not be there if the appliance was induction.

“It’s a misdirection to blame the consumer for indoor air-quality problems when it’s the product itself that creates combustion emissions, including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and benzene,” Spatz said.

“It’s a misdirection to blame the consumer for indoor air-quality problems when it’s the product itself that creates combustion emissions”

The gas industry has had a problem on its hands as public awareness shifts to realize these consequences. Gas utilities and propane companies alike are dependent on selling gas to millions of Americans, and their future survival depends on expanding that base.

Gas utility trade groups like the American Gas Association (AGA) have had their own influencer campaigns that use the gas stove to gain favor with the public. The propane industry has had its own initiative fighting back.

Matt Blashaw and Emily Calandrelli have both appeared in ads for the propane industry.

Screenshot from Atlanta Plugged In and Screenshot from Houston Happens

Both PERC and AGA get their funding for anti-electrification efforts from companies that pass those costs along to consumers. Trade associations are supposed to use these fees for education and safety campaigns, but there is little oversight of their activities by the Department of Justice. Environmentalists have called into question whether promoting the gas stove’s health impacts should qualify.

“PERC takes its mandate from Congress to support the safe use of propane, provide for research and development, and educate consumers very seriously and does not use funds to influence legislation or elections,” PERC’s senior vice president of communications Erin Hatcher emailed Vox.

The PERC campaign also raises questions about whether it’s running afoul of Federal Trade Commission guidelines for advertisers and deceptive marketing around greenwashing. Earthjustice’s climate senior attorney Hana Vizcarra noted Sheremet’s assertion that propane leads to a “healthier lifestyle” and puts “less CO2 into the environment versus traditional electric cooking,” a claim that has no basis in data.

“At a minimum, I think they are veering into the deceptive practices territory, possibly violating guidance about how to be straight with your consumers around who is speaking on who’s behalf, and truthful in what you’re saying,” Vizcarra told Vox.

PERC in particular faces scrutiny for its advertising practices. Following a New York Times investigation into PERC in January, four Democratic senators and one representative called on the Department of Energy to “exercise its statutory oversight responsibilities” to ensure funds collected by PERC are being used appropriately.

PERC maintained, “All of PERC’s sponsorships are in compliance with federal regulations identifying PERC as the sponsor. Stations are fully aware of their guests’ sponsors.”

The industry messaging will continue to shift as regulators and politicians take a closer look at the stove. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently opened for comment on how to proceed on gas stoves’ health concerns, even though it has already taken any outright ban on new appliances off the table. Cities like Portland and states like New York are already considering regulations that would phase out gas pipelines to new buildings. Gas utilities and propane companies have been trying to influence that debate. “The gas industry’s clearly experiencing a lot of anxiety,” Spatz said.

But while the stoves are the battleground, there is far more on the line. Most of the industry’s profits come from gas used by larger appliances, including furnaces, water heaters, and, in some households, dryers. The gas stove is just the most visible and popular of these fossil fuel appliances — one that the industry is committed to defending to maintain an important mental foothold with the public.

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The USFA is responsible for the NETC, a nationally recognized historical location in Emmitsburg, Maryland, with 30 structures that function as sleeping, eating, education and office spaces. We are committed to climate change initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint and lower monthly operating costs at the NETC. Many of these initiatives can also be implemented at fire stations and other fire department facilities across the country.

By adopting climate change initiatives locally, fire departments can demonstrate energy and environmental leadership in their communities to raise public awareness of the adverse effects of climate change and the benefits of energy efficiency.

Proactive steps for fire department leaders

Light-emitting diode lighting conversion

Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is an energy-efficient alternative to traditional fluorescent and incandescent lighting. LED lights use less energy and last longer than traditional lighting, making them a cost-effective solution for fire stations and other facilities. By converting to LED lighting, fire departments can reduce their energy consumption and lower their electricity bills. In addition, LED lighting produces less heat than traditional lighting, which can help reduce the load on air conditioning systems and lower cooling costs.

On the NETC campus, changing interior and exterior lighting from fluorescents (T8s) with ballasts to LEDs has reduced the number of fire alarms from faulty ballasts and increased energy efficiency by 30%. Cost savings with the 10-plus-year warranty LEDs are estimated to be $2,548.26 over the life of each light.

Improving building insulation

Improving building insulation is another way fire departments can reduce their carbon footprint. In addition to proper insulation, maintaining a tight window envelope, which involves sealing all gaps and cracks around windows and doors, can help reduce air leakage and prevent heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. This can help fire departments improve their energy efficiency by saving on heating and cooling costs. In addition, proper insulation can help regulate temperature and humidity levels, which can help protect equipment and extend its lifespan.

On the NETC campus, the historic buildings are being reinsulated with a fire-rated, removable spray foam that seals even tiny openings and enhances energy efficiency.

Improving heating and air conditioning efficiency

Improving heating and air conditioning efficiency is another way a fire departments can reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint. By upgrading to high-efficiency heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, fire departments can improve their indoor air quality and reduce their energy consumption. HVAC systems should undergo regular maintenance to help ensure that they are running at peak efficiency and reduce the risk of breakdowns or malfunctions during emergencies.

On the NETC campus, over the past 10 years most HVAC systems were upgraded with seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) ratings ranging from 21 to 27 (SEER ratings typically range from 13-30). Also, many buildings are heated and cooled by geothermal heating and air-conditioning systems.

Solar energy use

Solar energy is a renewable and clean energy source that fire departments can use to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. By installing solar panels, fire departments can generate their own electricity and target “net-zero” energy use. This means that the fire department’s facility generates as much energy as it consumes, resulting in a zero net energy balance. In addition, solar panels can help reduce electricity bills and provide backup power in the event of a power outage.

On the NETC campus, driving toward a net-zero energy solution has included a continuing program of photovoltaic cell installation (solar panels). 5 buildings now have solar panels resulting in significant savings. This includes a historic barn with estimated annual savings of $33,048 and a flat-roof building with estimated annual savings of $31,320.

Electric vehicle use

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular as a clean and sustainable alternative to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. Fire departments can adopt EVs for purposes such as command vehicles and fire apparatus, which can help reduce the department’s carbon footprint and operating costs. Fire departments can also use EVs as a mobile power source during emergencies, as EVs have the capacity to store and distribute large amounts of energy.

On the NETC campus, there are currently 16 electric maintenance carts. The USFA is evaluating the purchase of 32-passenger electric buses for student transportation.

Sustainability funding opportunities

For information about grants and other opportunities to fund your fire department’s sustainability projects, contact your local government’s planning or sustainability office. Other possible funding sources include:

The bottom line

Climate change initiatives, including LED lighting conversion, improving building insulation, improving heating and air conditioning efficiency, solar energy use, and EV use can help fire departments reduce their carbon footprint, improve their energy efficiency, save on operating costs and contribute to a more sustainable future.

For more information on how the USFA increased energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions at the NETC, contact our facility manager, Val Benson. For information on what the federal government is doing to advance sustainability and climate-resilient operations, visit Sustainability.gov.

Read more at USFA

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Houston startup founders have been moving and shaking in the local innovation ecosystem — from being recognized for their out-of-this-world innovation to big wins.

In this roundup of Houston startup and innovation news, a Houston company snags a major partnership, an energy tech startup wins big on stage, and more.

The Postage gets a new partner

The Postage platform will be available to AmBank Company’s employees, customers, and their families. Photo courtesy of The Postage

A Houston tech platform that streamlines estate and legacy planning has entered into a partnership with AmBank Company — American State Bank, American Investment & Trust, and Perspective Insurance — in Sioux Center, Iowa. The bank will deliver The Postage’s services to its employees, customers, and their families.

The Postage unique platform allows users important information organizational tools, as well as state-specific will document creation. The technology also allows users to share meaningful family memories, write future messages, and collaborate with loved ones of their choosing.

“Community is at the core of everything American State Bank does. They exemplify that by supporting their customers through the myriad of choices that arise while navigating their financial lives. The Postage fits right into that, and we are thrilled to share our platform with their employees and customers in their planning and organization efforts,” says Emily Cisek, CEO and co-founder of The Postage, in a news release. “We hope to grow awareness of the family-driven digital solution and provide AmBank’s customers the opportunity to gain control and safeguard their critical information. We look forward to providing AmBank’s customers with the guidance they need to protect their wealth and wisdom now and for generations to come.”

The partnership, which rolled out last month, was announced as American State Bank and the family of brands celebrated 50 years of business.

“Our commitment to delivering outstanding service and top-notch products to our customers, colleagues, and community has been unwavering for over half a century,” says Joel Westra, AmBank first vice president. “This partnership allows us to extend our digital services while staying true to our core values of connection and community.

“Our team has witnessed the struggles of families coping with losing a loved one, we recognized the need for a service like The Postage,” he continues. “Far too often, people are uncertain about the next steps, the whereabouts of important documents, and even their loved one’s final wishes. We recognize that to prevent these challenges, families need help navigating difficult conversations and guidance on how to get started with their planning, which The Postage provides.”

E360 wins Houston startup competition

E360 and Honeycomb Software share the win at the 2023 Houston CodeLaunch event. Photo by Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

CodeLaunch, a traveling seed-stage accelerator, hosted its second Houston startup pitch competition last week, and a Houston energy efficiency startup emerged victorious.

E360 won the top prize at the event on March 2. The program paired six finalists with consultant development teams to pitch and compete for up to $150,000. The startup’s technology is a holistic building solution that monitors both the energy efficiency and indoor air quality of commercial buildings.

“The goal I pursued at CodeLaunch was to meet industry leaders and investors who can help take the product to the next level,” says Mat Bonassera, chief enterprise architect at E360, in a news release. “The vast majority of buildings are both incredibly inefficient as well as dangerous to their occupants, due to the dangerous levels of compounds in the air.

“We solve both these complex problems at the same time,” he continues. “This is unheard of in our industry. We do this by monitoring vast sums of IOT data and then using Machine Learning and real-time monitoring we adjust the building to optimize its performance. This is a revolutionary way to look at commercial buildings.”

E360 shares the win with its partner development team Honeycomb Software, an international custom software development company. The provided hands-on support to E360 scale during a two-day hackathon held February 25 and 26.

“The desire to promote energy efficiency of the buildings and the sustainability in business influenced our decision of whom to work with during the Hackathon,” says Oleksandr Semeniuk, CEO of Honeycomb Software, in the release. “Our team worked tirelessly to expand the functionality of E360, and this victory is a testament to their hard work and dedication.”

Axiom named among most innovative companies

KBR is one of Axiom Space’s partners on its new NASA-sanctioned ISS project. Photo via AxiomSpace.com

Fast Company named it’s 50 most innovative companies — and Axiom Space, a Houston-based commercial, full-service orbital mission provider, was named No. 49 on the list. It was also recognized as one of the most innovative space tech companies “for going to space without a chaperone,” per the magazine.

The article recognized several of Axiom’s accomplishments, including:

• Managing the first all-private mission to the International Space Station in April of 2022. The mission sent a four-person crew into space for 17 days.
• Developing plans to expand the international community of space explorers, including Italy, Canada, New Zealand, and others.
• Building a module to attach to the ISS, which is progress toward the world’s first commercial free-floating space station.

“In the space business, there’s a big focus on the transportation, the rockets,” Michael Suffredini, president and CEO of Axiom, tells Fast Company. “But if you think about the railroads that were built across the U.S., they were built to serve a destination. Without a reason to go somewhere, they wouldn’t exist. We’re building the destination in space—the real estate to allow multiple businesses to operate in low-Earth orbit and take advantage of the microgravity environment.”

NASA also makes the ranking for “showing that a public space program can still do big things,” according to the list.

Calling all student-founded startups and businesses

Rice and UH have programs for startup and small business entrepreneurs. Photo via uh.edu

Rice University and the University of Houston have upcoming deadlines for their summer accelerators. The summer programs all operate in coordination with each other and offer support for student, faculty, or staff founders and their startups and small businesses.

The four programs, and their focus and application deadlines, are as follows:

• Rice’s OwlSpark is focused on early-stage startup teams with at least one Rice student, faculty, or staff founders to grow from innovation to commercialization. Apply by March 13.
• UH’s RedLabs is focused on early-stage startup teams with at least one UH student, faculty, or staff founders to grow from innovation to commercialization. Apply by March 31.
• Rice’s BlueLaunch is focused on non-tech small business entrepreneurs who are either student, faculty, or staff at Rice. Apply by March 13.
• UH’s Red Launch is focused on non-tech small business entrepreneurs who are either student, faculty, or staff at UH. Apply by March 31.

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On March 5, exactly one year ahead of the 2024 primary, Mountain View City Council member Margaret Abe-Koga announced her plans to run for the District 5 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors next year. But it’s not the first time Abe-Koga has thrown her hat in the ring for this office.

She first announced her intention to run for county supervisor back in 2012, but ended up withdrawing and throwing her support behind Joe Simitian, who would go on to win and serve District 5 for more than a decade.

With Simitian’s seat set to open up next year — he’s reached the number of consecutive terms he’s allowed to serve — Abe-Koga said she sees it as the perfect opportunity to try again. And this time, with more than an extra decade of experience under her belt.

“The years of experience have definitely made me more seasoned,” Abe-Koga said in an interview. “I was mayor for the first time during the Great Recession in 2009, and then 2020 when we went into sheltering in place. So I can say that I’ve been through some major crises, challenges and have been able to lead the community through that.”

As a daughter of working-class immigrants, a mother, a breast cancer survivor and a former small business owner, Abe-Koga said her experiences give her unique insight into what it’s like to raise a family, navigate the health care system and make a living in Santa Clara County.

“The county really can provide those services that assist all the folks and the businesses, and so that very much ties into who I am, and is really the foundation for what I think I could provide in terms of leadership at the county,” she said.

In addition to being a member of the Mountain View City Council, Abe-Koga serves on five regional boards, experience she wants to bring to the county Board of Supervisors. On the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Abe-Koga represents Santa Clara County. On the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, she represents the city of Mountain View. She also serves as a member of the Valley Transportation Authority board of directors, the president of the Cities Association of Santa Clara County and a member of the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board.

“I serve on many of these boards with county supervisors from the nine counties of the Bay Area, so I’ve been able to do a part of the work that they do, and I’ve been able to work on the issues that I think are the critical issues for our region and our county — climate change being the first and foremost,” Abe-Koga said.

Particularly through her work on the Air Quality Management District and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Abe-Koga said she’s already working on some most pressing issues facing the environment: the impacts of extreme weather patterns, drought and wildfires, as well as protecting the region’s clean air, water and energy.

A bit closer to home, Abe-Koga said her time on Mountain View City Council has shaped how she approaches issues like housing and homelessness. But many of the lessons she’s learned during her tenure on the council also apply regionally, Abe-Koga said.

“Seeing that these issues are not city specific, they are regional, I think the county will provide that opportunity to collaborate across the county,” she said. “That’s what I would like to work on, is just to strengthen the partnership between the county and the various communities.”

While the 2024 election season is still a ways away, Abe-Koga said it’s never too early to announce one’s candidacy, especially for an office that covers so many distinct communities. She said she looks forward to getting to know folks in each of the cities included in District 5 over the coming year.

“I will continue to be responsive to the residents, because I know that they are the ones who put the trust in me to make the decisions that we need to make to move forward,” Abe-Koga said. “Accessibility will continue to be a focal point.”

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WASHINGTON, March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) President and CEO Alan H. Shaw will deliver testimony Thursday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Shaw will provide details on Norfolk Southern’s commitment to making it right in East Palestine and the region, progress on environmental remediation, and the company’s focus on safety. Below is his full testimony as provided to the committee.

Testimony of Alan Shaw
President and Chief Executive Officer, Norfolk Southern Corporation

Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Capito, and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today to discuss the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. My name is Alan Shaw, and I have been the President and CEO of Norfolk Southern since May 2022. I look forward today to sharing our progress cleaning the derailment site, assisting families whose lives were disrupted, investing in the community, and making Norfolk Southern and the railroad industry safer. I am deeply sorry for the impact this derailment has had on the people of East Palestine and surrounding communities, and I am determined to make it right.

We will clean the site safely, thoroughly, and with urgency. We are making progress every day. Working now under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recent Unilateral Administrative Order, we have submitted a long-term removal plan that will guide our comprehensive testing program for the community’s water, air, and soil. That testing is guided by science, and we will continue to share the results transparently. The Ohio and U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies, as well as other local agencies, are continually monitoring the air and water quality in East Palestine and report that both the air and water are safe.

Financial assistance cannot change what happened, but it is an important part of doing the right thing. To date, we have committed to reimbursements and investments of more than $20 million in total, including by helping more than 4,200 families through our Family Assistance Center located in East Palestine. Supporting first responders has been a particular area of focus, and our contributions include more than $3 million to assist the East Palestine Fire Department. I would like to express again my profound admiration for the first responders from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia who responded to the derailment.

I want to be clear: this financial assistance is just a down payment. I’ve met with community leaders, business owners, school officials, clergy, and others to begin to identify ways we can invest in the future prosperity of East Palestine and support the long-term needs of its people. We will continue to invest in East Palestine for as long as it takes to help the community recover and thrive.

We are also committed to learning from this accident and working with public officials and the industry to make railroads even safer. In the meantime, we have already launched a series of immediate steps to enhance safety, based on the facts in the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report. We look forward to cooperating with the NTSB as it continues its investigation into the root cause of the accident as well as its wider investigation.

I. Our Commitment to Remediation and Monitoring

I have visited the East Palestine area frequently since the accident. I’ve met with residents of the community. I’ve heard their concerns, and I understand why they are worried. Their feedback has informed our approach. Norfolk Southern is working around the clock to remediate the remaining issues and monitor for any impact on public health and the environment. We continue to work in close coordination with federal, state, and local governments and others to conduct environmental monitoring and to develop and carry out near- and longer-term clean-up activities. The remediation plan and each step of our longer-term efforts will be implemented at the direction of the U.S. EPA pursuant to the Agency’s Unilateral Administrative Order.

Norfolk Southern specialists remain on-scene, assisted by multiple derailment and environmental contractors. These teams have contained, diverted, and treated affected portions of nearby waterways, have flushed nearly a mile of surface waterways, and are capturing rainwater within the contaminated areas for temporary storage and disposal. To date, we have recovered and transported more than 3.5 million gallons of potentially affected water from the site for disposal at EPA-approved facilities.

We also are working to safely remove affected soil, and our crews have removed more than 2,300 tons from the site. We have removed waste to landfills specifically engineered and permitted to safely handle this type of material. Our work will continue until the job is done.

To date, monitoring of East Palestine‘s public drinking water and private water wells by multiple state and local authorities and Norfolk Southern shows that the water is safe to drink and there are no harmful levels of substances related to the derailment. Beginning immediately after the derailment and now at the direction of the U.S. EPA, we have implemented a comprehensive testing program to monitor the quality of the community’s air. The U.S. EPA has monitored air near schools and residential areas, in several government buildings, upwind of the derailment site, and downwind of the derailment area. Norfolk Southern’s outdoor air monitoring program has collected millions of data points from around the derailment site and throughout the community. The results of these tests continue to demonstrate that the air is safe to breathe. In addition, in consultation with the U.S. EPA, we have been performing indoor air quality screening for residents. To date, nearly 600 homes have been screened; none of the results indicate a health risk from incident-related substances.

We continue to listen to the experts and cooperate with state, federal, and local government agencies. We are committed to this monitoring for as long as necessary. We have also created a website, NSMakingItRight.com, to provide the latest information to residents of East Palestine and the surrounding communities.

II. Our Commitment to the Community

I want the people of East Palestine and the surrounding communities to know that Norfolk Southern and I are deeply committed to them and their recovery. To date, we have invested more than $13 million as a down payment and provided support to more than 4,200 families through our Family Assistance Center in East Palestine, including:

• More than $3 million in reimbursements and support to the East Palestine Fire Department for fire equipment used in the derailment response;
• A $1 million fund available immediately to community leaders to identify where donations can do the most good;
• Another $1 million fund to support the immediate needs of the community, overseen by a Norfolk Southern craft railroader who lives in East Palestine and has been hired to serve as a community liaison, reporting directly to my office;
• $300,000 to the East Palestine City School District to support the district’s academics, athletics, extracurricular activities, and long-term contingency planning regarding the impacts of the derailment;
• Funding and coordination of cleaning and air monitoring services for the East Palestine Elementary and High Schools; and
• $65,000 to the East Palestine Youth Sports Association to allow children to play in sports leagues for free for the year.

We have committed another $7.5 million in financial assistance to reimburse Pennsylvania emergency responders and health and environmental agencies for costs related to the derailment. And I personally have committed almost $450,000 to fund scholarships for seniors at East Palestine High School.

In addition to the nearly 200 Norfolk Southern employees and contractors who have been in East Palestine to help with remediation and financial assistance, we also have many employee volunteers who have come to the community to help. To offer just one example of how they are finding ways big and small to make a difference, our new community liaison recently observed that a local flower shop missed out on one of its biggest sales days of the year, Valentine’s Day, due to the disruption caused by the derailment. He ordered 100 bouquets of flowers from the shop and, with the help of our volunteers, distributed them to residents at a local assisted living community. That is the Norfolk Southern culture in action, and I could not be prouder.

Again, this is a down payment. I am going to see this through. There are no strings attached to our assistance—if residents have a concern, we want them to come talk to us. I understand how much East Palestine means to each resident, and we are committed to making this right.

III. Our Focus on Safety

We are committed to making the rail industry safer. We will analyze and address the NTSB’s investigation results when they are available, but we are not waiting to act.

The NTSB’s preliminary report released last month reflected that the Norfolk Southern crew was operating the train within our protocols and below the speed limit. The sensors in place to identify overheated axles operated properly, and the crew took the appropriate action when they received the alert. We currently spend $1 billion a year on technologies, equipment, and infrastructure to enhance safety. But the safety mechanisms in place did not prevent this accident, so we are focused on learning from this incident and working with industry to make changes.

The morning after the derailment, I spoke to NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy and pledged the full cooperation of Norfolk Southern in the NTSB’s investigation. Chair Homendy has said publicly that the derailment occurred at the twenty-third car, a hopper car, with a particular focus on a catastrophic failure of the wheel bearing on this car. This car carried plastic pellets, and it was the combination of those pellets and a hot axle that appear to have started the fire. Neither Norfolk Southern nor the other Class I railroads own plastic-pellet hopper cars. That’s one reason why an industry-wide comprehensive approach, including railcar owners, car manufacturers, leasing companies, equipment makers, and the railroad companies, is essential to help improve safety as the rail industry continues to provide the logistical infrastructure that enables the United States’ economy to grow. It’s going to take all of us—and we’re eager to lead that effort.

As an initial step—and focusing on what we can do on our own—we are making our network of early-warning sensors stronger. Shortly after the derailment, I instructed my team to immediately look at steps we can take to improve safety further, and we are taking the following actions:

• Enhancing the hot bearing detector network;
• Piloting next-generation hot bearing detectors;
• Deploying more acoustic bearing detectors;
• Accelerating our Digital Train Inspection program; and
• Analyzing—with others in the industry—available data for patterns that could provide earlier warnings of potential safety issues, and partnering with other railroads to review best practices, including how the industry should respond to high-temperature alarms.

An essential part of our effort to make Norfolk Southern an even safer company is to further strengthen our safety culture. To describe how we are doing that, I would like to provide some important context on the new strategy we announced for Norfolk Southern at the end of last year. In a significant departure from the railroad industry’s recent past, we deliberately moved away from a singular focus on operating ratio, which is a common industry measure of efficiency. Instead, we are taking a more balanced approach to service, productivity, and growth.

As just one example of what our strategy means in practice, instead of furloughing workers during periodic economic downturns, we intend to use the opportunity to invest in our workforce and provide additional training. When we do that, it makes us a more resilient company that is better able to serve our customers, and it creates more career opportunities for our craft railroaders. We hired craft railroaders aggressively throughout 2022 and continue to do so this year.

Our new strategy goes hand-in-hand with our intensified focus on culture and employee engagement, with an emphasis on transparency and collaboration. I know that when Norfolk Southern is successful, it is because our craft colleagues are getting the job done for our customers and the U.S. economy. I have spent countless hours in the field in the 10 months I have served as CEO, thanking our front-line railroaders for their service and listening to their ideas on how to make Norfolk Southern better.

When we completed the recent round of national labor negotiations, with a historic and well-deserved 24 percent pay increase, I committed immediately to begin negotiations at the local level on quality-of-life issues like paid sick leave. We did what we said we were going to do and have already reached agreements on paid sick leave with three of our unions.

IV. Our Commitment to Industry Action

We are working with others in the industry in moving forward. All seven Class 1 railroads recently announced that we will join the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). Norfolk Southern was already actively participating in the C3RS Working Group that is part of the Department of Transportation’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee. With all Class 1 carriers joining the FRA’s program, Norfolk Southern is building upon its own long-standing Close Call Experience Program.

And we believe it is important that we leverage Norfolk Southern’s data, as well as data from industry partners, to reevaluate alarm threshold temperatures for bearing heat sensors. Norfolk Southern’s wayside detectors trigger an alarm at a temperature threshold that is among the lowest in the rail industry. Our wayside heat detectors are regularly inspected every 30 days and are spaced more closely than many others in the industry. We are also exploring new technologies and refinements to current systems.

V. Conclusion

Finally, Chairman Carper, Senator Capito and members of the Committee, I want to state again how deeply sorry we are for the impact of this derailment on East Palestine, surrounding communities and all of the people who have been affected. We are making progress in the recovery and know our work is not yet done. On behalf of the more than 19,700 hard-working employees of Norfolk Southern, I pledge that we won’t be finished until we make it right. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today, and I look forward to your questions.

About Norfolk Southern
Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have safely moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and is the largest rail shipper of auto products and metals in North America. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S., serving a majority of the country’s population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com.

SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation

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A bill proposed in the Minnesota Legislature would provide polluted, disadvantaged areas with stronger regulatory protections against new sources of contamination. 

The bill, known as the Frontline Communities Protection Act, would create stronger permitting requirements for facilities seeking permission to emit pollutants in environmental justice areas, and require the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to evaluate existing pollution in an area when issuing a new permit. 

“No community should be forced to bear a disproportionate burden of pollution. We must empower those communities and give them a meaningful say in what’s being built next door,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senator Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis. The bill received a hearing Tuesday in the Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy Committee.

Today, the Pollution Control Agency considers all permit applications on an individual basis, and allows emissions within prescribed levels for regulated facilities. The idea of a cumulative impact law such as proposed by Champion is to force regulators to take current pollution levels into account when evaluating new permits or the expansion of existing ones. 

Environmental justice advocates have fought for cumulative impact laws for years. States like New York and New Jersey passed similar legislation recently. 

“We have overburdened communities and we want to stop the pollution before it even happens,” said Sophia Benrud with the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table. 

Governor Tim Walz has proposed his own version of cumulative impact legislation, and Champion said there are “meaningful differences” with his version. Pollution Control Agency government relations director Tom Johnson said the Walz administration wants to narrow the focus to areas immediately around environmental justice neighborhoods and raise barriers that would trigger a cumulative impact analysis. 

Champion said he believes the differences can be resolved. He is optimistic that the bill can be included in environmental omnibus legislation and pass this year. 

Protecting environmental justice areas 

Champion’s bill would define what environmental justice neighborhoods are and establish new protections for them. The goal is to add more transparency and accountability to the permitting process and give communities more power, Champion said. 

Under the bill, environmental justice areas are Census tracts where any of the following are true: At least 40 percent of the population are people of color; 35 percent of households are low-income; 40 percent of the population has limited English language skills; or it is tribal land. 

The law would require the Pollution Control Agency to deny a new permit application, existing permit expansion, or the renewal of a major pollution source permit in an environmental justice area if the agency determines the permit would contribute to community members’ health problems, including asthma, cardiovascular disease, and elevated blood lead levels.

It would allow local organizations and the applicant to create a “community benefit agreement” if the neighborhood wanted to allow the facility for economic reasons.

The law also would create new public engagement requirements for the Pollution Control Agency in environmental justice areas. Conducting a cumulative impact analysis would be mandatory for permit applicants if the facility is applying for a major source permit as defined by the Clean Air Act, which includes emissions such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and lead. A community petition also could trigger the requirement for an analysis. In either case, more public hearings would be required, and regulators would need to take into account comments made at public hearings when deciding whether to grant a permit. 

“This is what real, meaningful environmental review looks like, and it’s the first step towards addressing a legacy of environmental injustice,” Champion said.  

Air pollution higher in diverse, low income areas

Air quality in Minnesota is improving, according to the Pollution Control Agency’s “The Air We Breathe” report, which was released this week. Regulations on vehicles, power plants, and other emitting facilities, along with a transition away from coal, have led to a steady rise in air quality since 2010. But wildfires in Canada and the American West contributed to a spike in poor air quality in 2021, according to the report. 

Minnesota meets all current federal air quality standards, but “air pollution levels remain elevated in many areas of concern for environmental justice compared to state averages,” the report states. Transportation, emissions from permitted facilities, and wood burning for heat are the leading sources of air pollution statewide. 

Minnesota uses a tool called MNRISKs to evaluate whether air pollution could hurt people’s health. Under that system, 1.0 is a baseline score for an area where most people won’t experience health issues.  Non-environmental justice areas average a score of 0.8. However, low-income areas average a 1.2 score, areas with more than 50 percent people of color average 1.4, and areas with high diversity and low incomes average a 1.8 score. 

More than 2 million Minnesotans live in areas where air pollution risk is over the 1.0 desirable health score, the report states.

Crafting the law

Activists in Minnesota are optimistic the bill can pass through the DFL-controlled Legislature this session. But they are also pushing to make the law’s language as strong as possible, according to Sasha Lewis-Norelle, an environmental health and justice organizer with Clean Water Action. 

“There has to be some level of mandatory permit denial,” Lewis-Norelle said.  

Johnson, the government affair specialist with the Pollution Control Agency, testified that the agency supports a cumulative impact law. But there are still details to work out, he said. 

The agency wants to see changes in the definitions of public health stressors—sources of pollution like highways or industrial facilities and conditions like asthma and cancer— that would trigger the law, Johnson said. The agency is also concerned about the amount of land the law applies to, he said. Current language in Champion’s bill would apply to facilities within 10 miles of an environmental justice area, which would include most of the Twin Cities metro. That would drastically increase the scope of the law, Johnson said. 

A lobbyist from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce said the organization wants to see the scale of the bill trimmed down so it covers a list of more specific polluting facilities and geographic areas rather than all defined environmental justice neighborhoods. A lobbyist for the American Chemistry Council also spoke in opposition, arguing that the science around cumulative impacts on people is still being developed. 

Champion has introduced the legislation twice before. He grew up in north Minneapolis, and represents the area today. He’s always seen deteriorating health conditions among his neighbors, he said. The initial version of the bill focused exclusively on the northside, but Champion said he quickly learned that these issues exist in areas across Minnesota. Places already considered environmental justice areas by the Pollution Control Agency include neighborhoods on the south side of St. Cloud and the north side of Rochester. 

The bill is carried in the House of Representatives by Representative Fue Lee, DFL-Minneapolis. The bill was advanced Tuesday to the senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee. 

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“At Consumer Reports, technicians and engineers measure noise levels on a variety of products, as we never know when or in what environment these products will be used,” says Jason Holmes, CR’s associate director of lab operations. “Depending on your needs, the noise level of a product may be critical to how you will use it.” Our testing teams have found no correlation between a product’s price and the level of noise emitted—an expensive air purifier, for instance, can be as likely to make a racket as a cheaper one.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that noise stays under a whisper-quiet level of 30 decibels during the night for a good-quality rest, if the noise is continuous (for instance, the operational sounds from a fan or air conditioner running). And according to a small study, published in 2016, healthy subjects slept 16 to 34 minutes longer in a soundproof room compared with in the lab or their own home (based on an average total sleep time of about 6.5 hours). There were fewer middle-of-the-night awakenings, too.

“Keeping levels of noise low in bedrooms is very important for maintaining good health,” says Richard Neitzel, PhD, associate professor of environmental health sciences and global public health at the University of Michigan. “Exposure to excessive noise while we are sleeping causes sleep disturbances and increases in stress hormones, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”

Some people actually feel more relaxed with the persistent hum of a fan (there’s even a white noise machine that sounds like it). But if you’re looking for a comfortable climate for sleep, along with peace and quiet—or something close to it—these recommended products from Consumer Reports’ tests can help. They’re sound performers all around, and—they’re quiet, too.

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Public attention is drifting from the aftermath of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last month, but the cleanup of the toxic chemicals that spilled and burned is ongoing — and likely won’t stop for quite some time.

“I estimate the timeline to be years” for remediation of the area, said Kelly Pennell, a professor of civil engineering and director of the University of Kentucky’s Superfund Research Center.

After what appeared to many to be a slow start in addressing the release of toxic chemicals into the environment, Norfolk Southern — with prodding from the Environmental Protection Agency — seems to have picked up the pace of its disaster response. Millions of gallons of contaminated water and thousands of tons of contaminated soil have been carted off, drinking water sampling continues, and waterway cleanup is ongoing. But plenty of challenges remain — including gaps in monitoring soil and water and in knowledge of what chemicals the spill left behind, and pushback from the places that might receive and dispose of the toxic waste.

With misinformation and distrust still flowing freely in East Palestine, the slow process of toxic site remediation is doing too little to relieve residents’ fear and uncertainty. It’s a process that has been repeated over and over after environmental disasters, from the Exxon Valdez spill to Tennessee’s coal ash catastrophe in 2008; initial guesses of remediation timelines can undersell what’s on the horizon by years.

“Remediation is not only removal of chemical contamination, but it also includes the complexity of a community grieving of what was, accepting of what happened, envisioning what can be, and, importantly, preventing and reducing exposures to contamination through that entire process,” Pennell said. “Too often, remediation does occur on a fixed timeline, excluding renewal and regrowth.”

Exporting soil and water

On Feb. 21, the EPA officially ordered Norfolk Southern to “conduct all necessary actions associated with the cleanup” of the derailment site. As of Monday, the company reports it has recovered 3.2 million gallons of affected water and transported it off-site, and it has removed 2,366 tons of “waste soil.” It has also used clean water to flush 5,200 feet of affected nearby waterways and has sampled the drinking water from 186 private wells.

Some of these measures are themselves controversial. Norfolk Southern has reportedly planned to send shipments of contaminated soil to a toxic waste incinerator less than 20 miles from East Palestine that has previously been cited for Clean Air Act violations. The company has sent other soil and water to states including Michigan and Texas, prompting backlash from residents and authorities there.

“These are the standard methods, but they are never accepted by local residents,” said Alan Rabideau, a professor and chair of the University of Buffalo’s Department of civil, structural, and environmental engineering. “Landfills engineered for hazardous waste are certainly capable of safe disposal, but nearby residents never like the idea of hosting someone else’s waste. Incineration can be similarly effective if operated properly but can produce toxic air emissions if mishandled.”

He added that there are no cost-effective alternatives available for disposing of large quantities of affected soil.

Mysteries in the ground

It also isn’t completely clear what chemicals and toxins are present around the spill site, even more than a month after the Feb. 3 derailment. Researchers and experts from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon universities continue to monitor air quality, and have reported potentially concerning levels of acrolein, which can cause skin and respiratory tract irritation, among other effects.

On March 2, the EPA finally issued an order that Norfolk Southern begin testing for dioxins, highly toxic, carcinogenic chemicals likely to have been created by the intentional burning of vinyl chloride in the immediate aftermath of the crash. If they are found, that will further complicate the cleanup efforts, as they are known to persist in the environment for extended periods of time.

The vinyl chloride itself also poses a challenge. Rabideau explained that vinyl chloride is a “dense nonaqueous phase liquid” which can easily migrate downward through soil and reach the water table. If that happens, remediation that lasts “months or years” becomes much more likely.

“Vinyl chloride is extremely toxic, resistant to treatment, and likely to migrate downward because of its density,” he told Grid. “You’ve got serious problems there, regardless of what else was released.”

David Schaad, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University, agreed. “Once it gets in the groundwater, it’s another ballgame,” he said. “Vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen. It’s a nasty actor.”

An air of distrust

Pennell stressed that successfully remediating a toxic site requires building and sustaining trust across a community.

“To build trust and collectively define goals, including which chemicals in the soils, water and air need cleanup, we have found that developing partnerships across multiple stakeholders and establishing knowledge brokers is valuable,” she said. “There appears to be a lack of true partnerships and growing distrust in East Palestine.”

For example, some of the testing of air and water in East Palestine is being conducted by the environmental consulting firm CTEH, contracted by Norfolk Southern. In a Facebook post, a community group called River Valley Organizing warned that “CTEH has questionable practices to say the least” and suggested test results paid for by Norfolk Southern should not be trusted. That group and others have called for independent testing instead.

Officials have started to talk about the issue of trust and to stress that the timeline for remediation may be longer than most would hope. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the agency wants to “earn the trust of this community,” and that it will keep pressuring Norfolk Southern for “as long as it may take.”

“The term remediation means different things to different people,” Pennell said. “People often seek specific deadlines that can be defined as when remediation will end. I can certainly understand that desire.”

Thanks to Lillian Barkley for copy editing this article.

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