On March 1, the EPA, Ohio EPA, and Norfolk Southern announced the approval for a plan to complete sediment cleanup in Sulphur and Leslie Runs. This plan included targeting remaining oil sheening, as well as targeting and removing oil discharged during the derailment, including additional stream/sediment
washing and physical removal of sediments, as appropriate.

On March 4, the EPA released a fact sheet detailing upcoming changes to surface water management associated with the site. These plans include:

• Plans to return the natural flow of water back into Sulphur Run.
• To prepare for rainwater and water from the upstream wetlands to flow naturally on-site, the north and south ditches alongside the tracks will be evaluated in areas, starting at the western-most end of the derailment site.
• Robust testing under EPA and Ohio EPA guidance, oversight, and approval will ensure the soils around and within the ditches have no remaining contamination.

Flow will be restored for that area once testing in one area of the ditch shows naturally flowing water is safe to enter Sulphur Run. The testing process will repeat for a total of nine areas until the full natural flow of water is restored. Surface water testing in Sulphur and Leslie Runs will continue during this process.

The EPA says none of this water flow will come from currently contained site wastewater.

Rainwater and snowmelt will continue to be collected on-site until water is fully restored to the ditches.

This process is expected to begin in the next two weeks, with the overall process extending into summer.