EAST PALESTINE, Ohio - Nearly 9 months after a train derailed in East Palestine, the federal and state EPA officials stood at ground zero to brief the village on where the cleanup stands.

With the sounds of trucks removing hazardous waste in the background, the agency says the major cleanup is nearly done. Following the cleanup is remediation and continuous monitoring.

The agency says so far, 165,000 tons of contaminated soil and 39 million gallons of contaminated liquids have removed from the site.

"This doesn't mean the cleanup is done or that the EPA is going away," said U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Debra Shore. "But it is a huge step in life returning to normal here in East Palestine."

The excavation of hazardous waste at the derailment site is coming to an end, but Shore stressed that air and water testing will continue.

During the briefing, Shore addressed the letter sent to her agency by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and J.D. Vance. The letter called for immediate indoor air testing for East Palestine residents.

Shore said that she is aware of the letter but that indoor air testing is unnecessary, calling it "not wise or appropriate." She explained that some chemicals found in the derailment can also be found in common household cleaning products or paint, so indoor air testing could be inaccurate.

According to Shore, the agency does not see any path for contaminants at the derailment site to get into homes. The EPA has sophisticated technology like the mobile air quality testing van that makes indoor testing unnecessary, she added.

"Since the derailment, more than 100 million air monitoring and sampling data points have been collected," Shore said. "Since the evacuation was lifted, outdoor air monitoring sampling results continue to indicate no concern with respect to derailment related chemicals."

The EPA opened a community welcome center shortly after the derailment. Shore said since opening, the center has had over 1,000 visitors and taken 1,200 phone calls. In mid-November, the welcome center will change to by appointment only.

Mark Durno, a Response Coordinator with U.S. EPA, said that over the next few months residents can expect to see less truck traffic, as well as a reconfigured air monitoring and sampling network.

Durno said that a number of EPA and Norfolk Southern officials will soon make their way up and down creeks from Negley to East Palestine to assess how much, if any, cleanup is still necessary. He added that the fish community has returned to 2022 levels in Leslie and Sulfur Run.

When asked about residents in East Palestine and the surrounding are who are still experiencing health issues, Shore suggests they visit their primary care physician or the East Palestine clinic.