Putnam County commissioners address concerns over contaminated soil coming from East Palestine

Putnam County Commissioners held a press conference to discuss hazardous waste material from the East Palestine train derailment being brought to Putnam County for disposal. 

Putnam County officials addressed community concerns over the EPA's decision to bring contaminated soil to the Heritage Environment Services in Roachdale, Indiana. Executive Vice President of Heritage Environmental Ali Alavi said the soil being brought the the landfill contains very low levels of toxins, and does not foresee any issues. 

In regards to leakage concerns from the soil at the landfill into the surrounding environment, Eric Chris, Heritage facility manager said the landfill is heavily regulated by federal and state governments, with leak detection layers in the facility.

Any runoff from the soil would be collected and shipped off, and disposed of at another facility. Heritage also has ground water monitoring wells that monitors the water in the surrounding area. 

Alavi said that materials with higher toxic chemicals have come to the landfill in the past and is not worried about the level of contamination from the soil in East Palestine, and the level of contamination in the soil is not out of the ordinary for the landfill to handle. 

"There's am impetus for the folks to get that material off site as quickly as possible, and we're able to accommodate that and help," said Alavi. 

Heritage facility manager Eric Chris said that as a member of the surrounding community, he understands why people are concerned, but does not have apprehensions about bringing the soil to Heritage. 

"I live within a mile of the landfill and my homesite has a fresh water well, and I have no concerns about anything leaking out of the landfill, because of the way it's designed, monitored and upkept," said Chris. 

Officials held the press conference to answer questions and ease concerns from the community over the soil coming from East Palestine.