Monday update: East Palestine derailment
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio - Federal Agencies that have responded to the East Palestine derailment announced on Monday that they expect to have knocked on 400 doors in the village by Monday as they check in on families impacted by the fire and chemical spill.
According to the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency, FEMA, and CDC went to 350 homes over the weekend providing flyers with additional resources and conducted health surveys.
The White House says the door-to-door outreach is part of the Administration’s ongoing response to Norfolk Sothern’s train derailment on February 3rd.
The derailment and the government response is expected to be a topic when East Palestine Village Council holds its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.
Earlier on Monday, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will visit East Palestine and discuss with residents what their ongoing needs are as they deal with the aftermath of the derailment.
Brown has scheduled the meeting for 1 p.m. at the 1820 Candle Company, 135 North Market Street.
During Saturday’s FEMA briefing, a representative from the Centers for Disease Control said scientists will be at the EPA Community Welcome Center opening this week, offering additional health materials, and answering questions for residents and clinical providers.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been holding daily briefings to update the community and members of the media on the situation. Another briefing is expected at 4 p.m. Monday.
The below information was provided by the U.S. EPA
Air Monitoring & Indoor Air Screening
EPA continues real-time air monitoring and collecting air samples throughout the community. Air monitoring and sampling will continue until removal of heavily contaminated soil in the derailment area is complete and odors subside in the community. EPA also continues to assist indoor air screenings in homes. To date, 578 homes have been screened with no exceedances for residential air quality standards.
Public Drinking Water Sampling
East Palestine public drinking water testing results confirm that there is no indication of risk to East Palestine public water system customers. Treated drinking water shows no detection of contaminants associated with the derailment.
Residential Private Well Sampling
The Columbiana County Health District continues to sample private water wells. To date, a total of 121 wells have been sampled in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Derailment Site Soil
EPA continues to support Ohio EPA in the state’s ongoing and future cleanup activities for the incident, including water quality efforts. EPA collected soil and sediment samples at the derailment site for analysis for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), gasoline range organic compounds, diesel range organic compounds, and oil range organic compounds. Visit Ohio EPA for more updates.
Waste Disposal
EPA issued a directive to Norfolk Southern on Friday, February 24th, to accelerate cleanup of the train derailment site. Under this February 24th directive, waste disposal plans, including disposal location and transportation routes for contaminated waste, are subject to EPA review and approval moving forward. This directive is an important step in the transition from a state-led emergency response phase of the response to an EPA-led clean up phase. EPA has decades of experience dealing with hazardous waste – both from cleaning up contaminated sites to regulating the landfills where it’s disposed of.
As we continue to identify EPA-certified facilities that can accept this waste, some of the liquid waste will be sent to a facility in Vickery, Ohio, tomorrow, February 27, where it will be disposed of in an underground injection well. Tomorrow morning, Norfolk Southern will also begin shipping solid waste to the Heritage incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. This means the cleanup can continue at a rapid pace. EPA will continue working with the railroad and our state and local partners to identify other solid-waste disposal locations.
