EAST PALESTINE (AP) — 2/27/23 4:25 a.m.: Federal environmental authorities say shipment of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment will resume today to two Ohio sites.
EPA-certified facilities able to accept some of the waste had been identified, which meant shipments could restart Monday, Region 5 administrator Debra Shore, of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Sunday.
Some of the liquid waste will be sent to a facility in Vickery, Ohio, for disposal in an underground injection well, Shore said. Norfolk Southern will also begin shipping solid waste to an incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio, and additional solid waste disposal locations were being sought, she said.
“All of this is great news for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding community, because it means cleanup can continue at a rapid pace,” she said.
As many as three wells will be drilled this week to determine if ground water immediately below the derailment site is contaminated, with a total of 10 wells planned after the soil under the rails is completely excavated, Gov. Mike DeWine said.
State senate panel to begin derailment hearings
The first hearing of the Ohio Senate’s Select Committee on Rail Safety will meet Wednesday afternoon to begin its review of the derailment in East Palestine, Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) announced.
“The mission of the Senate Select Committee is clear. We need a complete understanding of why it happened, where the recovery stands now, and determine exactly how the Ohio General Assembly can best help our neighbors in East Palestine recover,” Huffman said.
Dublin Republican Senator Stephanie Kunze will serve on the committee chaired by Senator Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin), which will take testimony and question state agency officials, and experts working on the scene in East Palestine, Huffman said.
2/26/23 8:59 a.m.: The removal of hazardous waste from the derailment site in East Palestine has been paused by the U.S. EPA, according to Gov. Mike DeWine’s office.
Norfolk Southern had chosen to contract with licensed hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities in Texas and Michigan for the disposal of hazardous waste from the derailment.
According to the U.S. EPA, the U.S. EPA ordered the transport be stopped so that additional oversight measures could be put in place to supervise where Norfolk Southern disposes of the contaminated materials, DeWine said in a regularly scheduled update Saturday.
Region 5 administrator Debra Shore of the EPA said Saturday the agency had ordered Norfolk Southern to “pause” shipments from the East Palestine derailment but vowed that removal of the material would resume soon.
She said officials had heard concerns from residents and others in a number of states.
No one was injured when 38 cars derailed Feb. 3 but fears of a potential explosion prompted an evacuation and a controlled burn of toxic vinyl chloride.