Village of East Palestine discusses revitalization efforts one year after derailment
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio - The Village of East Palestine hosted a press conference Friday morning reflecting on the progress the village has made since last year's fiery train derailment.
Mayor Trent Conaway was joined by Fire Chief Keith Drabick and Village Manager Chad Edwards to discuss the progress made since the derailment and revitalization efforts in the village.
During the conference Chief Drabick highlighted the cleanup and revitalization efforts so far and future efforts including:
- Continued collection of over 2,500 confirmation samples from surface and subsurface soils to ensure no contamination was missed
- Continued collection and treatment of water that runs on or through the site until agencies determine there is no longer need to collect this water because it can no longer be contaminated by onsite soils.
- Evaluation of recent creek assessment data to develop final cleanup plans to address oil impacted sediments and eliminate sheens from the creek.
- Development of long-term monitoring plans to ensure drinking water remains safe
- Backfilling the restoration of excavation work areas
Additionally, Drabick addressed the issue of communication and recent comments by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about new rules that would require railroad companies to digitally communicate information to first responders in real time should an event like this happen again.
"Folks, that's already been done thanks to Norfolk Southern and RapidSOS. This process went live as of [January 17] ... Any derailment is going to immediate result in electronic data pushed out digitally to the [Emergency Communications Center] and responders on their standard tools that they use every day," Drabick said.
Drabick went on to call on other railroads to adapt a similar process to this one.
Chad Edwards also discussed a recent partnership between the village and Bricker Grayton Consultants to create an economic development plan, as well as a partnership with WRL Advertising for a new marketing campaign and logo for the village.
Edwards also announced a new website for the village for news and information, as well as new social media channels to keep residents informed.
Chief Drabick addressed residents who are still worried about coming back home and businesses worried about operating in the village stressing that it is safe to do so.
"I hope that we can make them feel better, I hope that we can give them the feeling that it's safe to come back to their homes. I would love everybody to come back," Drabick said.
"A lot of these chemicals that were involved with this were sensitizers. Some people have allergies ... Some people were more sensitive to these chemicals that were involved with this than others. We're hoping we can make it better for them," he continued.
Drabick went on to remind those residents that people outside of the village who drink and shower with their local water that their local water is also tested by the same entities that are testing the water of East Palestine.
Edwards echoed Drabick's sentiment stating that when it comes to water testing, the EPA "doesn't play around" and that if there were any problems with the water, residents would be alerted of it and the EPA would address it.
When asked about the Rail Safety Act, Mayor Conaway echoed the sentiments recently expressed by Ohio-based U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown that the bill needs to pass despite opposition from rail lobbyists.
"Is it perfect? No, no bill is ever perfect that comes out of Washington, D.C., but it's a good start to get things going," Conaway said.
