What is gender-affirming health care? 'Trans refuge' bill would help kids get it

Nicole Ki and Sam Stroozas
March 2, 2023 

From left to right: Hannah Edwards, Hildie Edwards, Dahlia Edwards and Dave Edwards. Hildie was Grand Marshall at a local pride parade.
Courtesy of the Edwards family

Minnesota’s Legislature is considering a bill that would make the state a safe haven for transgender youth seeking health care. That means trans youth traveling from other states would be protected in seeking gender-affirming health care in Minnesota.

Parents Hao and Gretchen Nguyen, who have a 6-year-old trans daughter and spoke in support of the bill at a hearing last month, say it’s a big deal for trans youth in Minnesota and across the country.

“It should be as simple as it is for Hao and I to take Asher to the doctor for every parent,” said Gretchen Nguyen. “It shouldn’t matter where they are. I also see this as helping to affirm those that are here and making sure that they’re secure in the fact that their representatives have their back.”

But what exactly is the bill seeking to protect? We asked parents, a doctor and the state’s first openly trans legislator what gender-affirming care means. Here are some of the questions they answered.

What is gender-affirming care?

Gender-affirming health care is specialized health care that meets the needs of transgender and gender-diverse youth and their families, according to Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, chief education officer and medical director of Children’s Minnesota’s gender health program.

That often includes annual pediatric visits where a doctor will check in with a child on what they’re thinking and how they’re feeling, track their mental and physical development and offer support to families navigating school, sports, community activities and social settings.

“It’s knowing for a kid in a family that they can go to a place where everyone there has experience working with kids and families who are transgender and gender-diverse, and knows how to support their family in terms of the questions they’re having, conflict within their family and knows how to support their kids in their school system,” said Goepferd.

In the first visit, Goepferd typically fields questions from kids and parents wondering what to do. The questions are often “What’s next, whether that’s a younger child and the parents are wondering, should we talk about this? Should we not talk about it? How should we talk about it?”

Or, if the child is asking to be called a different name, “Should we change it at school? Should we not change it?”

Much of the national discourse around health care for trans kids and teens has focused on medication and surgery, but Goepferd, who has worked with LGBTQ youth for 16 years, emphasized medications are not a part of gender-affirming care at Children’s Minnesota until kids reach puberty, typically between 12 and 16.

“Once adolescents reach puberty, or the second stage of puberty, they may become eligible for reversible treatments to pause their puberty while they either wait for the emotional and physical developmental maturity to participate in the decision around hormones, or just give them some more time to explore with their therapist and family what the best outcome might be for them going forward,” Goepferd said.

Goepferd added that Children’s Minnesota does not perform surgical procedures on anyone under 18 as part of gender-affirming care, and said in general “it is rare that anyone under the age of 18 accesses surgical procedures as a part of their gender-affirming care.”

Who does it impact?

Gender-affirming care impacts gender-diverse and transgender youth, who start to understand their gender identities at the age of 3 and 4, said Goepferd. Children’s Minnesota’s gender health program sees patients ranging from 4 to 20 years old.

In a 2022 survey of Minnesota students, the Minnesota Department of Health confirmed with MPR about 10 percent of students in eighth grade or higher identified as non-cisgender, which includes transgender, genderfluid, nonbinary and two-spirit identities.

“That’s not an insignificant number,” said Goepferd. “We in our program are probably somewhere around 150 new patients every year, and we’ve been open for almost four years now. So that’s a significant number of close to 600 patients that we’ve seen so far.”

The number of kids and teens traveling out of their states to seek gender-affirming care in more welcoming states like Minnesota are rising, said Goepferd. With the introduction of anti-transgender legislation across the country, Children’s Minnesota has seen an increase in calls from families and providers over the last two years with questions about getting gender-affirming care, or asking if they can transfer patients over to their gender health program.

The calls came from neighboring states like Montana and South Dakota, all over the Midwest and as far as southern states like Florida and Texas, said Goepferd. Some families have relocated to Minnesota seeking a safer environment for their trans kids and to be closer to gender-affirming care.

From left, Hao Nguyen, Ronin Nguyen, Gretchen Nguyen and Asher Nguyen pose for a photo.
Courtesy of Gretchen Nguyen

What does gender-affirming care look like?

Parents say gender-affirming care is similar to routine pediatric visits most kids go to, with some added questions on gender identity.

“It's similar to other pediatric care in that the doctors are answering questions that aren't necessarily like, ‘Is my child's arm broken or not?,” said Gretchen Nguyen.

Many families have to leave their primary pediatrician to seek expertise in gender-affirming care, like the Nguyens.

“The pediatrician kind of had nothing for me,” said Gretchen. “She was just like, ‘sometimes that happens and kids grow out of it.’”

For the Nguyens’ 6-year-old trans daughter, Asher, the gender health clinic at Children’s Minnesota is a safe place. Asher’s correct pronouns are used and the Nguyens can ask about Asher’s development, when it’s appropriate to talk about puberty blockers and resources they can use to affirm her gender identity and inform Asher’s future decisions once she gets older.

“There’s really no anxiety for her when she gets there,” said Hao. “Fast forward five years from now, it’s nice for her to have the same doctor who understands this very specific issue. So when we talk about gender-affirming care, I think creating these safe spaces to inform and educate decisions later that the child’s really comfortable with is part of that.”

Others, like Hannah Edwards and her 12-year-old daughter, Hildie, are at the stage to start exploring medication options, such as hormone blockers.

Since age 8, Edwards’ daughter Hildie has seen a pediatrician specializing in gender-affirming care. After several visits and conversations with her counselor, doctor and family, Hildie decided to start hormone blockers.

“The peace of mind that I saw it give Hildie was incredible,” said Edwards. “She went from obsessively thinking and worrying about the changes that were starting to happen to her body to just kind of getting to be a kid for a while longer. That was a huge blessing.”

Hildie Edwards poses at a Pride parade.
Courtesy of the Edwards family

Why do advocates say it’s important for trans kids to have access to gender-affirming health care?

Goepferd, who has seen a rise in the demand for gender-affirming care across the nation, said the trans refuge bill is about saving young people’s lives.

“We’re in the middle of a mental health crisis in this country,” said Goepferd. “Our children, particularly our teenagers, have higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicidality than it ever had, before the American Academy of Pediatrics declared mental health as a crisis for kids.”

According to the 2022 Minnesota Student Survey, of the 10 percent of students surveyed that identified as non-cisgender, 65 percent reported having long-term mental health, behavioral or emotional problems.

Because kids with transgender and gender-diverse identities often experience stigma and discrimination, Goepferd said they will have higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicidality.

“What the research tells us is that when those kids have access to gender-affirming care, to supportive adults, to resources, they do better,” said Goepferd. “They have a more positive sense of self and have less anxiety, depression and suicidality symptoms.”

Medical societies, like the American Medical Association and Children’s Hospital Association, support gender-affirming care because research shows access to this care improves the health and overall well-being of trans youth.

A video of Hao Nguyen speaking in support of his daughter at a hearing for the bill went viral on TikTok and garnered thousands of comments. The comments gave him insight into the impact the bill could have.

“I read all of them,” said Hao. “They’re grown Ashers who are now in their lives, sitting at their homes, in their beds or in their jobs, listening to this testimony. Their comments are stuff like ‘I wish I had a safe place like this. I wish I had a safe place in that family like this. I wish I had a safe state that’s going to do something like this. I wish I wasn’t so afraid to be in the state that I’m in.’”



What is the trans refuge bill?

Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, who is the sponsor of the trans refuge bill (HF146), said that in simple terms, the bill would protect folks seeking gender-affirming health care. While gender-affirming health care has not been banned in Minnesota, it has been banned in neighboring states, such as South Dakota where Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill in February banning both surgical and non-surgical gender-affirming treatments for minors in the state.

Finke said the need will only increase as other states continue to ban care. She said Minnesota would be the fourth state to become a trans refuge state.

“The law would make it so that people who live in states who have banned or restricted gender-affirming care can come to Minnesota to access that care and be protected from the laws that govern their home states,” Finke said.

Finke said many of the stories she has heard discuss the impact of care on trans youth and the danger that they may face when the care is unprotected and can be removed at any point.

“Even if your state is trying to ban health care, you’re at risk by simply existing in that state. That’s what I am hearing people say: I’m not going to wait — we need to go somewhere that is safe for my child right now.”

In line with anti-trans arguments nationwide, several Minnesota legislators and organizations have questioned the impact of minors using hormone blockers or cross-sex hormones, even though the bill itself does not attempt to legislate that.

In the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee meeting on Feb. 21, Rep. Matt Grossell, R-Clearbrook, asked about partially irreversible physical changes that can happen while receiving gender-affirming care, such as facial hair growth for trans men and breast development for trans women.

“Some of these youth may be left with some partially irreversible things that they would be scarred with for life,” Grossell said.

Goepferd was present at the hearing and said that bodily changes associated with gender affirming care happen “very slowly, over time” and that a child would be “well over 18 before they were experiencing significant changes that could be considered permanent.”

“When we force transgender children to go through a puberty that does not align with their identity, they experience significant mental health distress, and that is what we are trying to prevent,” Goepferd said.

Another line of criticism focused on the bill language, which modifies existing law about court jurisdiction involving children. The bill would make seeking gender-affirming care a factor in some assessments for whether a Minnesota court has jurisdiction to make an initial determination in child-custody cases. It also would give courts temporary emergency jurisdiction if a child is here because they have been unable to get gender-affirming health care somewhere else.

“Simply put, the custody provisions of the bill are allowing temporary jurisdiction in the state of Minnesota for custody cases to be heard. It doesn’t change anything about how a custody case would be heard in the state of Minnesota,” Finke said.

Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, said in the committee meeting that she sees the bill as “an assault on parental rights,” saying she has concerns on “the whole custody piece” of the bill. Scott brought up an example of parents living in different states, one in favor of gender affirming care and one against.

“I feel like it gives one parent an advantage over the other in cases where there is some shared parenting going on,” Scott said.

“The idea that there are custody cases where both parents can't have their opportunity to be heard sounds like a very serious problem in a custodial court system,” Finke said, “but I don't think that has anything to do with gender-affirming care.”
Hildie Edwards, a 12-year-old transgender girl, testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for the trans refuge bill on Feb. 10.
Screenshot via video

“Emergency jurisdiction is necessary in this bill because what we are doing, what we are saying is that parents have a right to receive gender-affirming care if they live in South Dakota. And if South Dakota is not going to allow those parents to provide for the best care for their child, then Minnesota can do that, and if that's going to lead to custodial decisions, then we need to be able to have temporary emergency custody in the state of Minnesota for those parents to have their ability to provide for their children,” Finke said.

The bill also says people would not be arrested in or extradited from Minnesota for giving or receiving gender-affirming health care, even if it is considered a crime in another state.

Scott asked for the bill to be sent back to the Committee on Health and Finance but the motion failed.

A companion version of the bill, SF 63, was heard in the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee Feb. 10, and laid over for final action at a later committee meeting and could become part of a larger bill.

Related reading

EarlierNorth Dakota moves to curb trans identity in data, minors

NPRFlorida is one of a wave of states to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth

JanuaryMN bill aims to create legal refuge for trans youth seeking gender-affirming care

2022Minneapolis issues order to protect those seeking gender-affirming health care

Transgender athlete wins discrimination case against USA Powerlifting

“I think we needed a win here, and it feels good to get that," JayCee Cooper said after the ruling.


March 2, 2023
By Jay Valle

USA Powerlifting lost a two-year court battle this week after a judge ruled that it had discriminated against transgender athlete JayCee Cooper by banning her from competing in women's competitions.

The ruling also mandated that the sports organization "cease and desist from all unfair discriminatory practices" because of sexual orientation and gender identity and that it revise its policy related to sexual orientation and gender identity within two weeks.

“I feel mostly relief," Cooper told KARE-TV, an NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, after Monday's ruling. "I think we needed a win here, and it feels good to get that."

USA Powerlifting told JayCee Cooper that she couldn't compete in the women's division because she had a "competitive advantage" as a transgender person. Caroline Yang for NBC News

USA Powerlifting President Larry Maile said his organization disagrees with Monday’s court decision and will be exploring options, including a possible appeal.

“Our position has been aimed at balancing the needs of cis- and transgender women, whose capacities differ significantly in purely strength sports,” Maile said in a statement.

Cooper's claims against USA Powerlifting date to 2019, when she filed a discrimination claim with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. In it, she alleged the sports organization had violated the state's Human Rights Act by banning her and other transgender athletes from competing in women’s competitions.

Then, in January 2021, Cooper, through the Minnesota-based advocacy group Gender Justice, filed a lawsuit against USA Powerlifting in state court.

“I was fed up with the way that I was being treated; I was fed up with the way that my community was being treated, and enough was enough,” Cooper told KARE-TV.

Cooper said she hopes her lawsuit will open doors for other transgender athletes.

Caroline Yang for NBC News

Following her court win, Cooper thanked the trans women who came before her.

“Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall riots and the plethora of Black trans advocates and activists throughout history — and the way they’ve led this fight — I am just one small piece that is built off of that,” Cooper told KARE-TV.

Over the last two years, a number of athletic organizing bodies have announced updated policies regarding the participation of transgender athletes. In November 2021, for example, the International Olympic Committee announced a new framework for transgender and intersex athletes that would drop policies that required competing athletes to undergo “medically unnecessary” procedures or treatment. And last year, after a record-breaking season by Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, the NCAA adopted a sport-by-sport approach for transgender athletes.

A bi-paw-tisan effort? Lawmakers pitch pet-specific animal board

Dana Ferguson
St. Paul
March 2, 2023

Rep. Mike Freiberg, Sen. Karin Housley and Sen. Scott Dibble introduced a proposal Thursday to create a companion animal board that would deal with pet issues. An orange cat named Franklin joined the conversation.
Dana Ferguson | MPR News

A bipartisan group of lawmakers at the Minnesota Capitol is aiming to create a new board aimed at focusing on policies involving household pets.

Right now, issues pertaining to cats and dogs fall under the Board of Animal Health, which was set up to deal with illnesses with herds and flocks in the state.

Lawmakers supporting the bill, along with the Animal Humane Society and several animal welfare groups, on Thursday said issues specific to cats and dogs should fall to a panel that doesn’t spend as much time on agricultural issues.

“The existing board that we have has done all it can do to deal with chronic wasting disease, with avian flu, with all the issues that are present in agriculture and animal husbandry,” said one of the bill’s authors Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis. “So we really need a group that's really, really focused on this particular sector. These animals have a very unique set of needs, as well as their families who need a lot of support, a lot of help in this area.”

What does that mean? The news, analysis and community conversation found here is funded by donations from individuals. Make a gift of any amount today to support this resource for everyone.
Donate Today

Co-sponsor Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, said it should be a proposal that can bring people together no matter their partisan affiliation.

MPR News Senior Politics Reporter Dana Ferguson interviews a cat, Franklin, at the Capitol on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
Courtesy of Russ Weseman

“Minnesotans love their pets. And that's something both Republicans and Democrats can agree on,” she said.

Under the bill, the state would spend about $3 million to set up the new board. It would take over authority for enforcing laws around breeding, kennels and managing feral cat colonies. It would also promote positive pet ownership and coordinate services for pets.

“Companion animals are not agricultural products, we don't eat or wear them,” Anna Olson, founder and executive director of Animal Folks, said. “These animals are about companionship with people. And this requires different expertise, and different focus and different oversight.”

Some raised concerns about the board impacting the role of service animals.

If approved, the board would include 13 members appointed from different sections of the animal and human welfare sectors. The measure has come up in previous legislative sessions and hasn’t passed.

It has not yet been scheduled for a hearing in either the House or the Senate.

HIP CAPITALI$M

This Oakland Startup Is Making Honey Without the Bees

Written by Kevin Truong

Published Mar. 02, 2023 • 

Oakland-based Melibio has created a vegan plant-based honey. | Courtesy of Melibio

Would honey by any other means still taste as sweet?

That’s the premise that Melibio—a food technology startup based in Oakland—is testing through its vegan honey produced without the buzzing assistance of bees. 

It’s more than a heavy lift to change a multi-billion dollar industry that has spanned thousands of years of human history, but it’s one that the company argues is environmentally and morally necessary. 

Melibio’s first commercially available product—slated to launch in the U.S. at a natural food expo later this month—is a plant-based honey drawn from the same plant chemicals bees use to create honey. The company will first roll out their product to restaurants and manufacturers before pursuing direct retail sales. 

San Francisco restaurant BAIA developed a panna cotta dish using Melibio’s produce. | Courtesy of Melibio

The Oakland-based company has piloted its plant-based honey at restaurants like Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York and plant-based Italian restaurant BAIA in San Francisco where the product was used in a bruschetta appetizer and a honeycomb panna cotta dessert.

Melibio co-founder and CEO Darko Mandich spent nearly a decade of his career in Europe working in what he calls the “dark side” of the honey industry. It was that experience that showed him the impact of commercialized honey production first hand.

“I started steering away from the industry narrative, trying to expose myself more to like the latest research on bee biodiversity and understanding the connection between managed bees and wild bees,” Mandich said. “I started to realize that industry itself was the problem.”

Melibio has published a “State of the Bees” report that echoes much of his reasoning. In short, Mandich says that an unnaturally high population of the European honey bee has unbalanced the natural ecosystem and led to the decline of native bee species, many of which are better pollinators of local plants.

There are also Africanized honey bees—better known as “killer bees”—that have proliferated across much of the western United States and are known for aggressively attacking other bee species. What’s more, the modern honey and commercial beekeeping trade leaves the insects more susceptible to pathogens and other health concerns.

In recognition of these factors, a number of companies are aiming to change pollination and honey production, including BeeHero, which has developed an automated platform for what it calls “precision pollination” and Beewise, which manufactures a robotic solar-powered hive. 

Melibio has raised $9.4 million in seed funding from investors including Collaborative Fund, Astanor Ventures and Big Idea Ventures.

Last year, the company partnered with organic food producers Narayan Foods to launch its plant-based honey product across 75,000 European stores.

Melibio CEO Darko Mandich. | Courtesy of Melibio

Melibio bills its product as more sustainable and free from the seasonal volatility that comes with honey production, and says it’s working on scaling up its product through new technology. 

The next generation of the company’s product takes a page from cell-cultured protein companies like Eat Just and uses a fermentation process meant to recreate the flavor complexity that comes from how bees process nectar into honey. 

Mandich said the startup’s plant-based honey is currently cost-competitive with ultra-premium honey from Western Europe or Hawaii. The next generation will hopefully compete on cost with honey from Argentina or Mexico, but also comes with new regulatory and technology challenges.

“We want to not just serve the upscale premium market, but also replace honey in any channel where they exist today,” Mandich said. “We have in mind that when the General Mills of the world want to make bee-less Honey Nut Cheerios, we’re ready to supply them.

Angry Ohio residents confront railroad over health fears

By JOSH FUNK and JOHN SEEWER

A cleanup worker stands on a derailed tank car of a Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine, Ohio, continues, Feb. 15, 2023. The fire that erupted after last month's train derailment in Ohio melted a key part of the tank cars filled with toxic chemicals, so federal officials warned railcar owners Thursday, March 2, 2023, to check their fleets for similar flaws. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Residents who say they’re still suffering from illnesses nearly a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in Ohio confronted the railroad’s operator Thursday at a town forum, demanding to know whether they’d be relocated from homes they’re afraid to live in.

“It’s not safe here,” said one man, staring straight at representatives of Norfolk Southern. “I’m begging you, by the grace of God, please get our people out of here.”

While the railroad announced it was ready to begin moving more contaminated soil from underneath the tracks, buying homes and moving people out of East Palestine hasn’t been discussed, said Darrell Wilson, the railroad’s assistant vice president of government relations.

“Why?” someone shouted.

Few seemed to come away satisfied with answers they heard about air and water testing from state and federal officials — even after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it was ordering Norfolk Southern to begin testing for dioxins, toxic chemical compounds that can stay in the environment for long periods of time.

Many people remain scared about whether the area will be safe for their children years from now, saying they fear that dioxins not yet detected will cause long-term damage. Testing so far by the EPA for “indicator chemicals” has suggested there’s a low chance that dioxins were released from the derailment, the agency said.

Some residents booed, laughed and yelled, “Don’t lie to us,” when Debra Shore, a regional administrator with the EPA, reiterated that tests have continually shown that the village’s air is safe.

A view of the scene on Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. The fire that erupted after last month's train derailment in Ohio melted a key part of the tank cars filled with toxic chemicals, so federal officials warned railcar owners Thursday, March 2, 2023, to check their fleets for similar flaws. 

(AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)

Investigators looking into the fire that erupted after the derailment said it melted a key part of the tank cars filled with toxic chemicals, leading federal officials to warn railcar owners earlier Thursday to check their fleets for similar flaws.

The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators determined the aluminum covers over the pressure relief valves on three of the five tank cars carrying vinyl chloride melted and that some of the metal was found around the valves.

The NTSB said melted aluminum may have degraded the performance of the valves and kept them from releasing some of the flammable gas to relieve pressure inside the tank cars. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has said the failure of the valves was part of why officials decided to breach the cars and burn off the vinyl chloride. The resulting toxic fire prompted the evacuation of half of East Palestine, Ohio, and the surrounding area near the Pennsylvania border.

Shaw said the railroad agreed with all the officials responding to the Feb. 3 derailment that venting the hazardous materials cars was the best way to prevent a disastrous explosion.

“The factors on the ground at that time were that the safety valves on the rail cars had failed and the temperatures inside the railcars were heating up,” Shaw said. “So, our independent expert was extremely concerned about a catastrophic uncontrolled explosion that would shoot shrapnel and hazardous gas throughout this populated community.”

Wilson told residents that Norfolk Southern feels horrible about what happened. So far, more than 2 million gallons (7.6 million liters) of water and liquid waste have been removed along with 1400 ton (1,270 metric tonnes) of solid waste.

Many people have complained that Norfolk Southern opened the tracks less than a week after the derailment and didn’t remove the soil underneath. The railroad now plans to dig up the areas and should be able to remove all the contaminated soil by the end of April if it’s able to start right away, Wilson said.

That only brought more jeers and angry shouts.

“You should have done it right the first time,” someone yelled.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration sent an urgent safety warning out to tank car owners Thursday saying they should check how many of their cars have aluminum covers over the valves like the ones that melted after the Ohio derailment. The agency said car owners should consider switching to steel covers, which is now the industry standard on new tank cars.

It’s not clear how many tank cars in use might have aluminum valve covers. The cars with them involved in the derailment were all manufactured in the 1990s.

The derailment prompted many lingering concerns for the roughly 5,000 residents of East Palestine, even though state and federal officials say their tests haven’t found any harmful levels of toxic chemicals in the air or water around the derailment.

The NTSB has said that an overheating bearing likely caused the train to derail, sending 38 cars, including 11 containing hazardous materials, off the tracks. A trackside sensor detected the overheating bearing just before the derailment, but the crew didn’t have enough time to stop the train.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has said he is focused making sure Norfolk Southern cleans up the mess while helping the town recover, and Shaw agreed to testify in Congress next week at a hearing about the derailment.

Already, members of Congress and the Biden administration have proposed many rail safety reforms, but Norfolk Southern and the other major freight railroads want to wait until after the NTSB completes its investigation a year or more from now to make any significant changes.

The major freight railroads said earlier Thursday they would take one of the steps Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recommended and join a government program that runs a confidential hotline for employees to report safety concerns.

___

Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska, and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.

Norfolk Southern Employees Suffering From Lingering Illnesses, Scathing Union Letter Says

Workers “continue to experience migraines and nausea, days after the derailment.”

ABIGAIL WEINBERG

News Writer
MOTHER JONES

Gene J. Puskar/AP

In a scathing letter to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Norfolk Southern worker and Teamsters union rep denounced the rail company’s cost-cutting business model, alleging that workers who were deployed to clean up February’s vinyl chloride spill have experienced adverse health effects.

“I am writing to share with you the level of disregard that Norfolk Southern has for the safety of the railroad’s Workers, its track structure, and East Palestine and other American communities where NS operates,” Jonathon Long, who said he had been employed with Norfolk Southern for 28 years, wrote. “I am also imploring you as the Governor of the State of Ohio to use your influence and power to stop NS’s reckless business practices that endanger the public and their Workers.”

Concerns about Norfolk Southern’s cost-cutting, anti-labor policies have been spreading for weeks, but Long’s letter paints the most vivid picture yet of the company’s apparent disregard for its workers’ safety. In the letter, Long identified the implementation of “precision scheduled railroading,” or PSR, a system that he says involves increasing the lengths of trains while slashing the number of employees, as one of the primary ways that the company has prioritized profit over the safety and well-being of its workers. “The new business model of PSR is implemented by freight rail carriers not to benefit America’s supply chain through the timely delivery of good,” he wrote, “but solely for the advancement of railroad executives, shareholders, and Wall Street hedge fund investors in the form of record profits, dividends, and stock buybacks.”

In addition to systemic issues, Long criticized Norfolk Southern’s immediate response to the spill of toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. Long wrote that workers assigned to clean up the spill were not provided personal protective equipment and that many “continue to experience migraines and nausea, days after the derailment, and they all suspect that they were willingly exposed to these chemicals at the direction of NS.” (Norfolk Southern insisted in a statement to CNBC that “hazardous material professionals…were on site continuously to ensure the work area was safe to enter and the required PPE was utilized.”)

Following the letter, leaders of 12 rail unions met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Railroad Administration administrator Amit Bose in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. In addition to paid sick leave, the unions are fighting for regulatory changes to ensure railroad safety.

“NS and other railroads alike must be stopped from continuing their cost-cutting business model and start focusing on how they can improve their performance to be as safe as possible,” Long wrote. “NS and other railroads alike must be held accountable in their operations, through rule-making and regulatory reform that establishes minimum safety standards in their operations.”

Chemical Reaction Spreads Out From East Palestine

Pennsylvania residents are increasingly anxious about health impacts and water contamination after the East Palestine derailment.

BY GABRIELLE GURLEY
MARCH 2, 2023

Democratic state Sen. Maria Collett speaks during a Pennsylvania state Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee meeting to vote to subpoena Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, on March 1, 2023.

If Ohioans in and around East Palestine are frustrated by conflicting reports about air, soil, and water contamination after last month’s freight train derailment, there’s a similar level of anger and dismay across the border among Western Pennsylvanians, who feel that their concerns are out of sight and out of mind. “The people in Beaver County are mad,” says Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), whose district borders Ohio. “They’re worried about whether there might be any long-term impacts on their health, livelihoods, their businesses, and their farms.”

The environmental effects of the derailment and the decision to explode toxic chemicals are slowly beginning to ricochet around the Ohio River Basin. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health opened a health resource center to answer residents’ questions in Beaver and Lawrence Counties, the two rural areas northwest of Pittsburgh closest to the accident. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Department of Health and Human Services also plan to conduct visits to homes in the evacuation zone, the one-mile radius from the crash site where first-response water testing has been done to uncover any health impacts from chemical exposure.

Water flows over, under, and through state borders. The accident and its explosive aftermath produced a cascade of potential health and environmental effects that residents and public officials will be forced to confront in coming months and years. Residents have complained that the response by federal and state authorities has aligned to arbitrary boundaries, with those outside them getting no offers of monetary compensation from Norfolk Southern, the freight rail company. The worries of people who are miles away from the crash site have been downplayed, but they are living with physical effects. With environmental scientists and regional advocacy groups saying one thing about the risks, and public officials and government agencies saying something else, there are real disconnects throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has announced that monitored data in Pennsylvania “do not indicate a potential for long-term health effects to the chemicals related to the Norfolk Southern train derailment.” Another DEP website specifies “no known concerns for air or water,” while instituting an independent, six-month testing regime. Nearby public water entities include Pennsylvania’s American Ellwood City, a community public water supply, and the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority water treatment plant, both located roughly 11 miles from the train derailment site. A smaller public water supply located along the Little Beaver River, which utilizes spring sources, is also being monitored by the DEP. Yet when a local grocery store chain pulls its Ohio-sourced bottled water from a spring 25 miles away from the derailment from the shelves, these conflicting signals raise anxieties in a place where many people rely on well water. And some state lawmakers have even complained that the environmental agency is stonewalling their requests for more detailed information.

“They are trying to reduce panic but instead they are creating a mistrust,” says Heather Hulton VanTassel, the executive director of Three Rivers Waterkeeper, an environmental group that oversees water quality in the Allegheny, Ohio, and Monongahela Rivers in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The state DEP is using its laboratories to test for volatile organic compounds that were on some of the train cars, including vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol, butyl acrylates, ethylhexyl acrylate, benzene, and ethanol. VanTassel expresses concerns that the chemicals have leeched into smaller streams near the accident like Sulphur Run, which zigzags into other waterways and onward into the Ohio River in Pennsylvania. She fears that the direct impacts on Pennsylvanians are being ignored, and that contaminated surface water could find its way into the groundwater. How contamination might affect a well depends on its type, age, and depth as well as whether old mining veins in the affected areas speed up the water flows.

First-response testing is an insufficient response to long-term impacts. Water can become cleaner as it flows into the ground, but the threats require constant monitoring. “Because water takes time to flow through our substrate, it can still mostly definitely become contaminated in our future,” VanTassel says. “We are not talking about days, usually we are talking about weeks, months, and years need for continued testing.”

“Every chemist and expert in this field that I have talked to up to this point has said they’re not testing for the right thing, dioxin,” says Megan McDonough.

Moreover, chemical contamination could mean more possible effects all along the nearly 1,000-mile Ohio waterway, and even beyond to the Mississippi River. There are uncertainties about how the chemicals released in the derailment will react with existing chemicals in the Ohio, or how these chemicals will accumulate downstream in smaller tributaries. VanTassel has been in discussions with waterkeepers in Kentucky and West Virginia about monitoring the bodies of water in those states.

State and federal authorities, VanTassel says, “are doing a really poor job” of explaining the diverse risks involved. “If people and animals are suffering health-related effects far beyond the immediate area of the crash site and explosion, then authorities need to get out to those areas to investigate the range of the contamination,” she says. For its part, the state Senate’s Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee has subpoenaed Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw. He was a no-show at a committee hearing held in Beaver County last week.

The use of fire retardants means that possible PFAS (also known as forever chemicals) contamination in groundwater sources is a threat and can persist in the environment. Burning vinyl chloride, which is used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, for pipes and other materials, also poses another threat. Combustion can create dioxins, which are not completely water-soluble, so these compounds can also persist in the environment. Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance (R) sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency requesting answers about possible dioxin contamination.

“Every chemist and expert in this field that I have talked to up to this point has said they’re not testing for the right thing, dioxin,” says Megan McDonough, the Pennsylvania state director for Food & Water Watch, a national environmental advocacy group that is working with other groups to marshal resources for preliminary water testing in the area. “We have people all the way from Ellwood City that are about 15 miles away that are having issues, and have noticed changes at their property,” she says. “So, the problem is no one is doing testing on the Pennsylvania side to even see how far the effects [go].” (McDonough says that it is unclear what data was used to establish the evacuation zone boundaries.)

Deluzio notes that his office has been hearing “a range of concerns around chemicals and examinations” from constituents. The state government in Harrisburg is committed “to testing there as long as necessary,” he says. As for the federal response, he adds that “what we have been doing from the very beginning here was to make sure that wherever those concerns are that they’re getting answered and that EPA is providing the broadest possible monitoring and testing.”

Meanwhile, to get at the root causes of the East Palestine derailment, Deluzio has introduced a bill that would revise the definition of a “high-hazard flammable train” to include dangerous chemicals like vinyl chloride (which is not included under current regulations), and reduce the number of cars need to fall under the definition to a single car. Currently, such freight trains are not defined as high-hazards unless they have 20 consecutive cars, or 35 cars total. He added that some Republicans are “frankly parroting railroad industry talking points” to oppose his bill, which has bipartisan support in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, Brown and Vance, along with Pennsylvania’s Democratic senators John Fetterman (D) and Bob Casey (D), released their own companion bill, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called “as smart as it is necessary,” vowing to pass it soon.

“What Ohio has been very good at this point that Pennsylvania has lacked is having a louder voice,” says McDonough. “Once Pennsylvanians organize and stand up and have that loud voice, I absolutely think that we start getting the things that we need.”

Wall Street Caused the East Palestine Crisis

Rail companies are trying to turn astronomical 45% profit margins—and no one’s stopping them. An interview with railroad worker Matt Weaver.

MAXIMILLIAN ALVAREZ

IN THESE  TIMES/DEMOCRACY NOW

This video screenshot released by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

 shows the site of a derailed freight train in East Palestine, Ohio.

PHOTO BY NTSB/HANDOUT VIA XINHUA AND GETTY IMAGES.

It’s been almost three weeks since the catastrophic derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in northeast Ohio thrust the residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area into a non-stop waking nightmare. It will take weeks, months, if not years to appraise the damage of this train derailment on the population, on the rail workers and first responders, and on the environment. While corporate spokespeople and many in the media try to paint this tragedy as some freak accident, we know better … We know better because we have been listening to railroad workers.

In this urgent mini-cast, we discuss the nightmare in East Palestine with Matt Weaver, who has worked on the railroad since 1994, is a member of BMWED-IBT 2624, and was recently chosen to serve as legislative director for his state.

TRANSCRIPT

The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.

Matt Weaver: Morning Max. My name is Matt Weaver. Matthew A. Weaver. I am a 28 year railroader. Currently I’m the legislative director for our members, the BMWED members in the state of Ohio. So the Brotherhood of Mans Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. I am the elected legislative director for Ohio. I’ve had a couple other positions with the union. Currently I am a carpenter foreman on the railroad and I am very concerned at the effects of this derailment and interested in seeing how the report comes back from the NTSP.

Maximillian Alvarez: All right. Well, welcome everyone to another special urgent episode of Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today, brought to you in partnership with In These Times Magazine and the Real News Network produced by Jules Taylor and made possible by the support of listeners like you. As y’all heard, we got the great Matt Weaver on. I’m so grateful to him for making time for this and you may have been seeing Matt around because he’s done some pretty incredible media spots of late, including on John Stewart’s podcast, some other mainstream media spots and it’s so, so good to see voices like his actually getting the attention they deserve in the mainstream media. Maybe if the mainstream media actually listened to workers this whole time, we wouldn’t be staring down the barrel of catastrophes like what we are currently watching unfold in East Palestine, Ohio.

Listeners have been asking us about it left and right. Of course, we all know the basics. A Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine earlier this month. That train that was carrying toxic materials including vinyl chloride, which was there was a quote, unquote ​“controlled release” burning up of that toxic substance. There’s a giant black death cloud hanging over the region right now. Fish and animals are dying. People are reporting ill health effects. It is an absolute nightmare and there’s so much that the media has not been focusing on until maybe the past 48 hours that is connecting this catastrophe to all the things that we were talking about with railroad workers like Matt over the course of the past year. And we haven’t had the honor of having Matt on Working People before, but I did have the honor of being on a podcast with him and the great Ed Burmila on the Gin and Tacos podcast.

So we’re going to link to that in the show notes so you guys can hear more from Matt and hear less from me. So I’m going to shut up right now and Matt is getting hit up left and we got a limited amount of time with him. So Matt, I wanted to just kind of turn things over to you with the time that we have. I do not want to ask you to speculate on anything that we don’t currently know. I don’t want to put you in a position that’s going to get you or anyone else in trouble. As you said, we’re going to be waiting for the details from the report. We’re still a lot about this situation that we don’t know, but I wanted to ask as a veteran railroader, as someone who has been focusing intently and speaking loudly and forcefully about the systemic issues on the railroads that have made disasters like this more likely, I was wondering if you could just sort of walk us through what you see in the horrific derailment of this Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine. What the root causes were, what the fallout of this is going to be?

Matt Weaver: It’s very frustrating, Max. I do agree. I cannot speculate on the exact cause yet, but the NTSB has released a preliminary news release saying that it was axle involved. So there was video of the hot box throwing sparks as much as 20 miles before the derailment. And then it goes back to precision scheduled railroading, the business model of the railroad industry for doing more with less. And lately it’s been doing less with less. We’re moving less freight, still record profits, but less freight, crunch time, skeleton crews. The big issue here may be car inspection times, machinist friends, car shop friends of mine they’ve talked about in the past, having two guys inspect a car taking four or five minutes to do so now it’s down to one guy pushing for 90 seconds, less than 90 seconds as little as a minute. But I can’t seen that in writing.

So I think that we really need to see the NTSB come up with a conclusive response and let’s prevent this. Let’s not have this happen again. I know as of late I’ve seen the reports of Obama era administration’s safety regulations being rolled back by the Trump administration, maybe breaking technology, saying it costs too much. The report was that it costs too much to install the new electronic control brakes. I don’t know a whole lot about those, but how much cost is it going to be to really clean this up and protect American lives? I mean, railroads don’t run through the backyards of wealthy people. So this is the working class who’s suffering from this. And I heard yesterday wells that were as shallow as 35, 40 feet that these people have been drinking out of. Those are going to have to be demolished. I hope those people have lots of bottled water.

Maximillian Alvarez: Yeah, man. I mean it’s just like I seesaw between being just infinitely heartbroken for the people in and around East Palestine, for the crew on that train, for the first responders who we’re going to find out about the horrible health effects that they’re going to be enduring after this catastrophic derailment, right? Because it wasn’t just vinyl chloride. We’re finding from the EPA that there were more hazardous substances on that train that have already been detected in the soil and surrounding waterways. I mean, this is just a truly worst case scenario here. And I know that the reports from great outlets like The Lever, Breaking Points, so on and so forth, focusing on how the Obama administration really just caved and backed down from pressure from the freight rail industry. And then the Trump administration just gave the industry whatever the hell it wanted, and didn’t force these companies to implement electric braking systems, which may have mitigated this derailment disaster.

But I wanted to focus on the other part that you said, Matt, because this didn’t come out as much over the course of last year when we were all talking about the crisis on the railroads, right? Because I think a lot of the focus was on the engineers and the conductors, understandably so. But it was really important to hear folks like you talk about the maintenance of wayside. Talk about the car inspection side, the track maintenance side, and how that played into the larger discussion we were having. Can you just say a little more about that for folks who maybe didn’t hear that side of the story when we were talking about why the railroads are in such a crisis right now?

Matt Weaver: In my career, I’ve been on the railroad for 28 years. The business model of Precision Scheduled Railroading, PSR is decimating the manpower we’re down as much as 30% over the last 10 years in manpower of rail labor. So I see that it’s deferred maintenance. It’s often the bandaid on a broken leg style of repair and that’s kind of scary. We have a right to speak up and there are whistleblower protections and good faith challenges to things, but there’s been a lot of retaliation on rail workers, rail labor that we have our own law CFR 20109 whistleblower retaliation on railroads. I’ve actually had a case. So people are afraid to speak up because of things like this. And now back in the day when I hired him, we had six or seven guys on a track section gang, now it’s two or three. We had the bridge gang I hired on, we had six guys. Now it’s three or four. There’s not enough guys to do the work. And the work is being deferred till there’s an emergency when there’s a disaster. ​“Oh yeah, we’ll fix it now.” But preventative maintenance is not as popular with the shareholders as it used to be in the sixties and seventies.

Maximillian Alvarez: Yeah, man, this is just what happens when you just do and commit to the just in time sort of production model. Again, everyone who listens to the show will know my rants about it, but we fucking told everyone that this was going to happen. You can’t just keep cutting operating costs year, after year, after year. Slashing the workforce in one of… That makes one of our most vital supply chains run year, after year, after year. We know the statistics, there used to be over 500,000 folks working on the railroads in 1980. Now there’s less than 150,000. The rail carriers have collectively cut 30% of their workforce in the past five or six years alone. They have done this to themselves and they have done this to rail workers, and they have done this to us because we are watching the, what happens when you keep throwing these preventative safety measures, these essential staff who are there to make sure that all the checks are in place, that everyone’s looking at, that you have people looking at the bearings on these trains, inspecting the cars, inspecting the wheels, inspecting the track, maintaining these parts of the infrastructure so that we don’t end up with catastrophic derailments like this.

And Matt, you said, because I think I have another interview coming out for Breaking Points with another friend of the show, Jay, a longtime trained dispatcher who we’ve interviewed a number of times on the show before. So listeners that’ll be out today, tomorrow, this weekend. But we talked about how he was looking at that same video you mentioned, Matt. The video where you can see the fire on the train like 20 miles outside of East Palestine. And again, we can’t speculate, but he said it looks like a bearing problem, which is something that these folks who are doing the car checks and the inspections would normally catch. But those workers have been slashed to the bone. And I just wanted to ask if you could say a little more about that there’s only 90 seconds that people have to check these cars. Could you just say a little more of what is supposed to be checked and how can you do that in 90 seconds?

Matt Weaver: So I’m not in the mechanical department. I’m in engineering. Bridges, buildings, and track. But the mechanical guys are in checking bearings, hoses, the knuckles. They’re looking at the rolling stock and they’re, their eyes on are what are finds this. There’s also discussions of hot box detectors that have been eliminated. I guess it’s not a federal law to have the hot journal hot box detectors. So we need to find out more about that as well. But it’s like real life Monopoly. In 1900, we had 132 Class 1 railroads, I believe. Now we’re down to seven pushing for a merger to make it six. And there’s the Monopoly board, four railroads on the board. And here we are. And society is going to suffer because of this. We already are about just in time shipping and shippers not getting their goods, and embargoes on shippers. The shippers were on our side and the STB hearings for, ​“You need to hire more people, you need to get this shit moved, pick up our cars.” But just before we were able to go on strike, the shippers kind of turned on us and demanded that Congress impose the PEB, which is very frustrating. The shippers, they’re serving the shareholders too, but damn it, we need to get our voice heard. And I appreciate you helping us do that.

Maximillian Alvarez: Well, we’re here with you always, brother, through thick and thin. Again, I wish we were talking under less horrific circumstances, right? Last time we chatted, it was because scab Joe Biden was forcing, and Congress were forcing a contract down your guys’ throats, giving derail carriers and their Wall Street investors everything that they wanted. Now we’re talking about a worst case scenario with this catastrophic and toxic train derailment in East Palestine. And this stuff is, it’s not inevitable. We can avoid this. We can reinvest in the workforce that maintains this vital infrastructure. We can make our rail system better if we just actually listen to workers and stop letting Wall Street destroy this vital component of our supply chain. And… Oh, go ahead Matt, please.

Matt Weaver: No other industry in America has these profit margins. They’re so spectacular. They’re pushing for an operating ratio of 55. And if you talk about the fast food industry, they’re shooting for operating ratio ratios to get under 90. It’s absurd that they’re making so much money. They’re making so much profit. They can afford to do this better.

Maximillian Alvarez: Yeah, they absolutely can. They are making billions, and billions, and billions of dollars. And the other thing I want to say to folks, ​’cause I got to let Matt go in a minute. Again, please follow railroad workers. Follow Railroad Workers United stay on top of this because what you will see is that yes, this catastrophic derailment in East Palestine is where the eyes of the nation are right now. But these derailments are happening all over the place. Like Norfolk Southern itself had two derailments the same week that Biden and Congress forced that contract down rail workers’ throats. We posted about it on the Real News Network Twitter account. You can go find it. And so Matt, I just wanted to sort of ask before I let you go, for folks who are watching this and feeling helpless, and scared, and infuriated about all this, what can they do to help? What can they do to support you and your fellow railroad workers, and just any sort of closing thoughts that you had about this situation and the larger cluster mess that we’re in right now?

Matt Weaver: At this point in time, Railroad Workers United, rail​road​work​er​sunit​ed​.org is where you find on the website is doing a fundraiser for making movies and videos to bring these circumstances to light. Just started a GoFundMe. They had one prior to, for bargaining that did really well. And we are actually hiring videographers and people as staff, which is very unusual for a cross craft solidarity group that really has no building. We’re not the union. We’re a group of union workers working together. All of rail labor coming together because we know we have the same needs in common. So definitely go to rail​road​work​er​sunit​ed​.org and listen in. A new release came out today with a couple of the things and that John Stewart clip.

ADDITIONAL INFO
LinksMatt’s Twitter page
Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Mel Buer, The Nation, ​“The Ohio Derailment Catastrophe Is a Case Study in Disaster Capitalism“

Watch Matt on The Problem with Jon Stewart: ​“The Ohio Train Disaster: Corporate Greed & Regulatory Failure“

Michael Kaplan, CBS News, ​“Excess Size Caused Train to Break Down in Days Before It Derailed in Ohio, Employees Say“

Mass for Shut Ins podcast, ​“037 – Workin’ on the Railroad with Matt Weaver and Maximillian Alvarez“
Working People, ​“Jay“

Working People, ​“Countdown to Midnight (w/​ Jay & Joe)“

Working People, ​“Where Do Railroad Workers Go from Here? (w/​ Jay, Marilee Taylor, John Tormey, & Matt Parker)“

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemu​si​carchive​.org)Jules Taylor, ​“Working People Theme Song

Post-Production: Jules Taylor

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Norfolk Southern Donated $100,000 to Cop City

Activists uncovered a donation from the rail company behind the East Palestine disaster to a campaign raising money for the controversial police training facility in Atlanta.

HANNAH BOWLUS

IN THESE TIMES

FEBRUARY 28, 2023

On left, a Norfolk Southern train on February 14, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. On right, a memorial for Manuel Teran, who was killed by authorities in Copy City on February 6, 2023

.(LEFT PHOTO BY ANGELO MERENDINO/GETTY IMAGES—RIGHT PHOTO BY CHENEY ORR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

This week, in the wake of Norfolk Southern’s disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, community groups reported that the Atlanta-based railroad company is also a funder of the controversial Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, also known as Cop City.

A September 2022 Atlanta Police Foundation board of trustees meeting report shows that Norfolk Southern donated $100,000 to the APF’s Public Safety First campaign. According to the APF’s website, the Public Safety First Campaign is raising $30 million toward the $90 million police training facility in the Weelaunee Forest. (The APF has pledged a total of $60 million; the public will foot the rest.)

A local activist coalition vehemently opposes the sprawling police training ground, which will include a mock city block and an area for high-speed vehicle chases. Opponents say it will further militarize an already-overfunded police department, and that razing 85 acres of forest will endanger a crucial watershed and especially harm the surrounding majority-Black neighborhoods. Violent police repression, including the killing of 26-year-old protester Tortuguita, has drawn national attention to the cause and its slogans, Stop Cop City and Defend the Atlanta Forest.

The Atlanta Community Press Collective (ACPC), a movement education and government transparency group opposed to Cop City, tweeted a link to the board report on February 16. ACPC member Vera (members use pseudonyms to avoid police repression or harassment), says to In These Times, ​“This [donation] raises an important question: what does Norfolk Southern stand to gain if Cop City is built?”

“This [donation] raises an important question: what does Norfolk Southern stand to gain if Cop City is built?”

Some APF donors, like construction contractors Brasfield & Gorrie and Brent Scarborough & Co., have seen ​“major remuneration in the form of lucrative contracts to build Cop City,” Vera alleges.

Asked for comment on the APF donation, Norfolk Southern spokesperson Connor Spielmaker points to the company’s ​“broad support for local first responders.” Norfolk Southern’s corporate giving foundation donates to police departments and foundations throughout the Eastern United States.

A Norfolk Southern train that derailed in Michigan on February 18, 2023.

(PHOTO BY NICK HAGEN/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Spielmaker also notes that the APF’s Public Safety First Campaign funds ​“youth initiatives and community policing efforts” in addition to the training center. (At $30 million, however, the training center is by far the campaign’s largest project.)

Since facing heightened public scrutiny after the George Floyd uprisings in 2020, police foundations have restricted external reports of corporate and individual contributions. Groups like ACPC work to make this information accessible to the public. In a 2021 investigative report, civil rights organization Color of Change and watchdog group Little Sis wrote that corporate donations to police foundations ​“raise multiple potential conflicts and enable corruption — including donations from companies doing business or seeking to do business with the cities or departments involved, and the risks of preferential treatment for donors versus the general public.”

Donations to police foundations “raise multiple potential conflicts and enable corruption."

Little Sis also points out that such donations cement a relationship between police and capital in which police prioritize protection of businesses and property. In Atlanta, for example, the APF’s Operation Shield, a mass surveillance program in the city’s central business district, offers protection to businesses through a central CC-TV connection site.

Railroad companies have long depended on the collaboration of local and federal police agencies in order to operate. Post-Civil War, railroads employed agencies like the Pinkertons and founded their own railroad police departments to act as strike-breakers. Railroad companies mobilized massive police forces to violently repress railroad workers as was the case in the Pullman strikes. Today, most railroads still have their own police forces with the same powers as state police.

But railroad police run with little state oversight. According to a 2015 New York Times report, railroad police officers have been accused of racial profiling and physical assault in neighborhoods where trains intersect. Railroad police have also been investigated for harassing railroad workers.

Left photo of firefighters working to put out a blaze after a police car was set on fire during a "Stop cop city" protest in Atlanta on January 21, 2023. Right photo is of a protestor who was arrested during the demonstrations

.(LEFT AND RIGHT PHOTO BY BENJAMIN HENDREN/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Norfolk Southern operates one of the largest railways in the United States. Its history is one of mergers and acquisitions. In total, the company operates nearly 20,000 miles of railroad in the Eastern United States. With its competitor CSX, it owns all of the railway east of the Mississippi.

The company has its own private police force, the Norfolk Southern Police Department (NSPD). As of 2015, the NSPD had more than 200 members operating across 22 states, ​“including 11 K-9 units, a Special Operations Response Team trained in special surveillance and investigative techniques,” according to a company report. The force is headquartered in Atlanta and often collaborates with the Atlanta Police Department, as well as other local departments throughout the Eastern United States, and boasts membership in the FBI’s Counterterrorism group.

The NSPD’s stated mission is to “[protect] employees and railroad property, customers’ freight and citizens in railroad communities.” The company reports thousands of arrests each year. In Chicago, the NSPD was criticized for setting up a bait truck operation with the Chicago Police Department, purportedly in response to train yard thefts. Community members called it entrapment, pointing out that the bait trucks were set up more than a mile away from the train yard. Norfolk Southern initially defended the operation but later apologized.

“Norfolk Southern's investment in Cop City is further evidence that the project is a reflection of backroom corporate interests. The companies that want to see the Weelaunee Forest bulldozed in Atlanta to increase police militarization are also willing to sacrifice entire towns in the American Midwest if it means turning a profit.”

Norfolk Southern officers often attend trainings by local police departments. Cop City, if completed, will not just service the Atlanta Police Department; it will also be a training site for other local and federal agencies.

One of Norfolk Southern’s train lines runs right along the border of the proposed Cop City site. In a court case fighting an injunction on construction, the Atlanta Police Department filed an affidavit listing alleged vandalism, violence and property destruction related to Defend the Forest actions. The affidavit includes a record from November 2022: ​“Arson to Norfolk Southern dump truck, trailer, and bobcat on old Constitution [road]”, the place where Norfolk Southern abuts the forest site. The affidavit adds: ​“Norfolk not affiliated with the public safety training center”. The ACPC’s Vera points out that Norfolk was in fact affiliated with the training center, calling the statement ​“another piece of misinformation … [that] functionally obscures the corporate interests behind the project.”

Groups working to halt the construction of the Atlanta training center have increased public pressure on Cop City funders and contractors to divest or end their contracts with the police foundation. The revelation of Norfolk Southern’s involvement in funding the training center drew swift criticism from Cop City opponents.

“Norfolk Southern’s investment in Cop City is further evidence that the project is a reflection of backroom corporate interests,” the ACPC’s Vera told In These Times. ​“The companies that want to see the Weelaunee Forest bulldozed in Atlanta to increase police militarization are also willing to sacrifice entire towns in the American Midwest if it means turning a profit.”