The Columbiana County Health District received $2 million to continue testing private well water in and around East Palestine. 

Residents started raising concerns right after the Norfolk Southern derailment that their drinking water could be contaminated by substances spilled from the trains. 

The health district immediately started testing the water in East Palestine and townships downstream from the villages such as Unity and Middleton Township. To date the district has taken 1,200 samples from wells to test for any hazardous substances in the drinking water. 

“We’ve seen four exceedances, done some investigation and found that those were not related to the derailment,” Laura Fauss, the Public Information officer of the Columbiana County Health District said. 

As they’ve continued to take samples results have shown nothing in the water. 

“Residents are getting a little more comfortable, I think the anxiety is kind of calmed down a bit,” Fauss said. “I think we're a trusted source in the community. A lot of residents appreciate that we’ve been involved and they can call us with their results if they have questions they may not be talking with somebody from another state.”

The county will continue to take hundreds of more samples in the wells as they look to establish a long term testing program to ensure that the drinking water is safe post-derailment. 

“I am still deeply concerned about the well being of my community,” Misti Allison, an East Palestine resident said. “My main focus is ensuring that everything stays okay and we’re only able to know that if we are conducting the rigorous testing.”

The heath district does not know when the additional well testing will begin.