Officials provide updates on recovery efforts in East Palestine
During a press conference, officials provided updates on the recovery process in East Palestine.
Representatives from the U.S. EPA, Ohio EPA, FEMA, CDC, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Federal Railroad Administration attended the conference.
According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore, the EPA has conducted 578 home re-entry screenings, and continues to monitor the air at 15 stations throughout the community.
The EPA will continue to monitor the air and provide screenings for those interested, they have also set up a new hotline for people for various services, the number is 866-361-0526.
Shore announced that the agency will be setting up a new welcome center at 25 North Market Street, where residents can ask questions and learn about the response process.
The EPA also identified two additional hazardous waste disposal facilities, the Ross Incinerator Facility in Grafton, Ohio and the Heritage Environmental Services Hazardous Waste landfill in East Liverpool, will be receiving waste from the clean-up, in addition to other facilities in Texas and Michigan.
"The addition of these disposal locations gets us closer to having enough capacity to finish the cleanup and get all the waste out of East Palestine as quickly as possible," said Debra Shore, U.S. EPA Regional Administrator.
The EPA said crews could not take any more of these materials to Texas or Michigan because those plants have a toxin capacity. Because of this, they're relying on these two plants in Ohio. The EPA is fully aware of Heritage Environmental Service's shaky past.
"We did a compliance screen of each of these sites and they are currently in compliance and we can have inspectors in collaboration with the state out there at any time," Shore added.
Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson said that the community has the full support of the governor's office, and that they will provide the community with everything they need.
FEMA Region 5 Regional Administrator Thomas C. Sivak said that there are currently 66 FEMA teams on the ground in East Palestine, and have reached out to over 500 residents to provide them with information. "As of this afternoon, we had 66 FEMA teams on the ground, engaging in the community," said Tom Sivak, Regional Administrator, FEMA Region 5. "They're just one part of this inter agency effort behind me."
Mayor Trent Conaway said that he is continuing to work with officials from the EPA and CDC to provide updates on air and water quality, but when asked if he was satisfied with the agencies response to the derailment, he waivered in his answer.
"I think they are working as hard as they can, but I do question the people getting rashes, what is causing it. They are saying everything is safe but we need to get to the bottom of what's happening," said Conaway.
According to the EPA, air quality standards for indoor and outdoor remains normal.
Positive news from the EPA, all of the 578 home screenings and the 15 air monitoring stations throughout the village show no alarming numbers. Residents tell 21 News they're still concerned about why there's no testing on dioxins.
"I want our soils tested and i want tests done for dioxins," said Oda Sponsel of Sugar Camp Drive.
"We don't have baseline information for dioxins," Shore added. "They are ubiquitous in the environment."
CDC reps are also taking their crews over the Pennsylvania line and working with 22 Lawrence County households, assessing chemical exposures with potentially affected residents.
On Tuesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan is expected to come back to East Palestine to visit the derailment.
He's also expected to open a new welcome center in town where people can drop in and get more information about response efforts.