Toxics Monitoring Steps Up After Ohio Train Derailment
To date, more than 9,000 tons of contaminated debris and soil have been excavated for proper disposal and await final approvals for transport to a permitted disposal facility. Norfolk Southern said.
Photo Courtesy Norfolk Southern
Federal and state officials and the Norfolk Southern Railroad have sought to counter public criticism about their efforts to mitigate public health and environmental damage from the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that caused chemical contaminants to disperse.
Following a contentious community meeting in the town, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional Administrator Debra Shore said at a White House press briefing Feb 17 that the agency will expand area air and soil sampling and testing, and conduct weekly public meetings. She noted that since a controlled burn of vinyl chloride at the derailment site was completed, EPA air monitoring has not detected any levels of health concern.
Still, residents continue to complain of headaches and other illnesses they attribute to the burn. In response, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control have dispatched a team of medical personnel and toxicologists to conduct public health testing and assessments.
Regarding when the response effort will transition to remediation, Shore said that while contaminantcharacterization of toxics has begun, removal of material must still be completed.
“I would predict we’ll be meeting with local, state and federal officials to begin the scoping of that remediation plan very soon,” she said.
The same day, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing water testing, announced that East Palestine’s municipal drinking water is safe, but it advised private well owners to rely on bottled water until those sources can be tested.
The agency also announced that a chemical plume of butyl acrylate in the Ohio River had dissipated, and that no other contaminants associated with the derailment were being detected.
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Also on Feb. 17, Norfolk Southern issued its own update on a site cleanup effort, saying that the use of “highly specialized systems” had resulted in safe air and municipal water sources, and that the railroad aimed “to meet or exceed regulatory requirements and alleviate the concerns” of East Palestine residents.
To date, the railroad said, more than 9,000 tons of contaminated debris and soil have been excavated for proper disposal and are awaiting final approvals for transport to a permitted disposal facility. More than 1 million gallons of affected water have also been removed for disposal.
Having been roundly criticized by East Palestine residents for skipping a Feb. 15 community meeting, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan H. Shaw visited the community Feb. 18 to tour the derailment site, and meet with local leaders and first responders.
“In every conversation today, I shared how deeply sorry I am this happened to their home,” Shaw said in a statement issued following his visit. “We are going to do the right things to help East Palestine recover and thrive again."
Biden administration officials plan to hold Shaw to that promise. While the railroad has publicly stated its commitment to “coordinating the cleanup project and paying for its associated costs,” EPA’s Shore told the press briefing that the administration is exploring issuing “a legally binding order to make sure the cleanup proceeds and that Norfolk Southern pays for all of it."
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also reportedly sent a letter to Norfolk Southern’s leadership criticizing its past efforts to block the enactment of safety regulations, including train staffing and hazardous material transport that might have prevented the East Palestine incident and other derailments from occurring.
“Our department will hold Norfolk Southern accountable for any safety violations found through the investigation now underway,” Buttigieg said on Twitter on Feb. 20. “USDOT will pursue all enforcement actions within our power to support East Palestine residents.”
