EAST PALESTINE — Over four million gallons of liquid wastewater and 1,400 tons of solid waste were removed from the Ohio train derailment site and a nearby town in East Palestine, according to an update release from the Ohio Governor’s Office.
News Center 7 previously reported about a month ago, on February 3, that a Norfolk Southern train derailed in northeast Ohio, near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The approximate 50-car freight train crashed, causing a days-long fire that required a controlled burn to prevent the carriage’s highly toxic and extremely combustible waste product from blowing up and sending metal shrapnel miles away. Authorities handling the crisis evacuated the nearby town of East Palestine as a precautionary measure.
Crews then commenced the controlled release that created a black cloud of smoke emanating from the crash site as well as a massive explosion.
Following the controlled release and the evacuation lift, residents who returned home found their environment and some of their water supply tainted. In addition, some resident began to experience adverse health conditions thought to be associated with their exposure to the chemicals. Symptoms included rashes, headaches, sore throats, and nausea. There were also growing concerns for pregnant women.
Since then, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and East Palestine’s municipal water works department worked to cleanup the disaster site and the nearby town of toxins, especially dioxins. The EPA further required Norfolk Southern to begin sampling directly for dioxins.
So far, the test results showed no detectable contaminants in the drinking water, a spokesperson for the governor’s office said.
To obtain the clean drinking water, 4.19 million gallons of wastewater were removed from East Palestine, according to the Ohio EPA.
The wastewater was shipped to Vickery, Ohio; Deer Park, Texas; and Romulus, Michigan; for disposal by deep well injection, a liquid waste technology that prevented the migration of contaminants into drinkable and publicly used water.
Additionally, 1,400 tons of solid waste were removed from the derailment site, the Ohio EPA reported.
510 tons were hauled to Grafton, Ohio, and East Liverpool, Ohio, for incineration. While, 880 tons were shipped to Belleville, Michigan, and North Roachdale, Indiana, to be placed into landfills.
For more information about the status of these tests into the local drinking water, you can visit Columbiana County Health Department’s website.
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