EPA Orders “Suspend” Contaminated Waste Removal at Derailment

Federal environmental authorities have ordered a temporary halt to shipments of contaminated waste from a train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line.

Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Saturday that the agency had ordered Norfolk Southern to “suspend” shipments from the Feb. 3 crash site in East Palestine, but promised that material removal would resume “very soon.”

“Everyone wants this contagion to disappear from the community. They don’t want the disturbance and the smell, and we owe it to the people of East Palestine to get her out of the community as quickly as possible.” Shore said.

Until Friday, Shor said, the railroad was solely responsible for the disposal of the waste and provided Ohio’s environmental authorities with a list of selected and used disposal sites. Going forward, disposal plans, including locations and routes for transporting contaminated waste, will be subject to review and approval by the Environmental Protection Agency, she said.

“EPA will ensure that all waste is safely and legally disposed of at EPA-certified facilities to prevent further release of hazardous substances and impact on communities,” Shor said. She said officials have heard concerns from residents and others in a number of states and are considering “transporting some of this waste long distances and finding appropriate approved and certified waste collection sites.”

The Ohio governor’s office said Saturday night that of the twenty trucks (about 280 tons) of hazardous solid waste hauled away, 15 trucks of contaminated soil were taken to a hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility in Michigan, while five trucks were returned to East Palestine. .

Liquid waste already hauled out by truck from East Palestine will be disposed of at a licensed hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility in Texas, but the facility will no longer accept liquid waste, the Ohio governor’s office said.

“Currently, about 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste remain in warehouses in East Palestine, not counting the five trucks returned to the village,” the governor’s office said. “As the treatment progresses, additional solid and liquid wastes are generated.”

No one was hurt when 38 Norfolk Southern vehicles derailed in a fiery, mangled mess on the outskirts of town, but as concerns grew over a potential explosion from hazardous chemicals in five railcars, officials evacuated the area. They later decided to release and burn the toxic vinyl chloride from the tank cars, causing the flames and black smoke to rise into the sky again.

Shore said the EPA was not involved in the decision to conduct controlled burning, but she called it a “reasonable” decision by local and state officials, based on the information they had at the time, “to deal with an explosive toxic chemical substance.” .”

Federal and state officials have repeatedly said that it is safe for evacuees to return to the area, and that air checks in the city and hundreds of homes have not revealed any significant levels of pollutants from the fires or burned chemicals. The state says the local municipal drinking water system is safe and bottled water is available while testing is underway for those with private wells.

Despite these assurances and many press conferences and visits from politicians, many residents still express feelings of disbelief or ask questions about what they have been exposed to and how it will affect the future of their families and their communities.