The NTSB and the Norfolk Southern Railroad: Monitoring the Environmental Impact of the Derailment on Waterways and Accessing Drinking Water in the Ohio River

While NTSB preliminary reports do not include a definitive cause nor draw conclusions, federal investigators probing the wreck have said surveillance video captured a wheel of the train bearing “in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment.”

The next phase of the investigation will examine the train’s wheelset and bearing as well as the damage from the derailment, the NTSB report noted. The agency will also focus on the designs of tank cars and railcars along with maintenance procedures and practices.

TheNTSB said it is also looking at other video, including footage from local businesses that reported seeing flames or glowing from the train before it derailed.

The train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in the village more than three weeks ago. To help prevent a potentially worse disaster, crews conducted the controlled release of toxic vinyl chloride – a chemical linked to an increased risk of certain cancers – from several train cars that contained the chemical and then burned it off in a pit. There was a black smoke that lingered over East Palestine for days.

Further spurring residents’ questions about safety were crews’ decision to conduct controlled detonations February 6 of some of the tanks that were carrying toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride that has the potential to kill at high levels and increase cancer risk.

During a Tuesday news conference, DeWine said the Norfolk Southern train that derailed was not categorized as a high hazardous material train, meaning the railroad was not required to notify state officials about what chemicals the rail cars contained.

The governor said that water quality in a second body of water in the area continued to improve, while the town continues to treat the creek that runs through it. No vinyl chloride was detected in the waterways, the update said.

The Ohio River is a large body of water that can easily deal with pollutants that flow into it.

The chemicals are a “contaminant plume” that the Ohio EPA and other agencies have been tracking in real time. Kavalec said that it was moving about a mile an hour.

The majority of chemicals can pass through the closing of drinking water intakes. Kavalec said that they are confident that low levels of contaminants that are not getting passed onto customers will not be in the water.

State officials have repeatedly said water pulled from the municipal system is safe to drink. The EPA encouraged residents to get water tested from their private wells if they didn’t, according to the governor’s office.

Some waterways in the area of the derailment were contaminated after the crash, killing an estimated 3,500 fish, but officials have said they believe those contaminants to be contained.

The estimation of the dead fish came from testing and sampling, according to Mertz. There does not appear to have been an increase in the number of fish killed since the first couple of days following the derailment.

Norfolk Southern announced that about 15,000 pounds of soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water had been removed from the crash site as investigators continue to probe the wreck.

Kurt Kollar, the on-scene coordination for the Ohio EPA, said that some of the pits are about 700 feet long and 8 feet deep.

The Challenge of Anacdotes: How Hazardous are Hazardous Materials Transporting People, Animals, and Trains? An Empirical Analysis of USA Today Incidents

People getting headaches and sore throats, and some animals dying near a train accident, are anecdotal, and Ohio Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff insists that air quality does not appear to be the source.

Anecdotes are challenging because they are anecdotes. “Everything that we’ve gathered thus far is really pointing toward very low measurements, if at all.”

The Federal Railroad Administration said railroads are the safest method of transportation for carrying large amounts of hazardous materials across the country.

USA Today analyzed 10 years of federal rail incident reports and found over 5,000 incidents of hazardous materials spilling or leaking from trains that were either in transit or sitting in rail yards. Six people got hurt from spills or leaks of hazardous materials in the year of 2022, while over 330 did it the previous year.

“It’s the mode of transportation that’s capable of moving bulk quantities,” Federal Rail Administration spokesperson Warren Flatau told CNN. “These commodities cannot be moved by pipeline; the alternative is moving them by truck over the highways, which is not looked upon favorably.”

However, the USA Today analysis found that other forms of transportation are much more leak-prone: “for every rail leak reported last year, there were two involving planes and 67 on highways.”

spills happen when trains are derailing In 2018, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Pittsburgh, spilling a load of mouthwash and releasing “a strong odor,” according to a city news release. Concern also heightened after the Trump administration allowed rail to transport highly explosive liquid natural gas – a rule the Biden administration halted last year.

“The real issue is the risk of derailment and explosion,” Kimberly Garrett, a researcher and PFAS expert at Northeastern University. “If natural gas were to have a derailment like the vinyl chloride, it would be devastating.”

Environmental Monitoring of the Creek Contamination Derailment and Its Impact on Groundwater Reservoirs and Water Quality: State Laws and Officials

“This is so critically important to moving on to next steps. We can now excavate additional contaminated soil and began installing monitoring wells,” Vogel said. The Ohio EPA will oversee the installation of water monitoring wells at the site of the derailment that will measure contaminant levels in the groundwater below.

Officials have been trying to assure people that air and water monitoring has not found any issues. The EPA reported last week that they have conducted indoor air testing at a total of 574 homes and detected no contaminants associated with the derailment.

Whelton told CNN the EPA should also continue to monitor semi-volatile organic compounds, which are more persistent and detected in local waterways after the derailment.

“Because of their size, they don’t go in the air as easily,” Whelton said. “They like to stick to soils and other materials. The question is, how contaminated is the creek and what will they do to remediate that?”

Anecdotal reports of pets and chickens dying have not yet been confirmed by officials. Mary Mertz, the director of Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources, said Tuesday that there’s no evidence that non-aquatic species have been affected by the spill.

As for drinking water, Kavalec said water treatment facilities should be able to remove the remaining low levels of volatile organic compounds in the water, and that the water will eventually be safe to drink.

In addition to the chemicals officials say should break down with aeration and water treatment, environmental officials also need to test for PFAS – a long-lasting and potentially more worrying class of chemicals used to put out chemical fires.

Public Reactions to the Velez-Glavan Chemical Crisis, Following the Decay of Velez’s Airborne Chemical Contamination, Complaints

An overwhelming stench of chlorine filled the air this week where Nathen Velez and his wife had been raising their two children, quickly burning his throat and eyes.

The order to leave was lifted the same day. Since then, some residents in the area have complained of health problems, such as headaches and nausea, and many have expressed concerns over possible contamination of the air and water supply.

Representatives of the train’s operator, Norfolk Southern, planned on attending Wednesday night’s meeting to provide information to residents on how they’re responding to the chemical crisis. The company backed out due to threats against its employees.

The company said in the release that they are increasingly concerned about the physical threat to employees and community around this event due to the increased likelihood of participation by outside parties.

Company officials had hoped to speak with the community about the steps that were taken to clean up the accident site and provide the latest results from water and air testing.

A community meeting still was expected to go forward Wednesday evening, and plaintiff’s attorneys invited residents to meet with them beforehand to discuss the derailment’s impact.

Is it okay to be here? Are my kids safe? The people are safe, are they? Is the future of this community safe?” East Palestine resident Lenny Glavan told reporters at the meeting. “We all know the severity of that question, and what’s at stake. Some people think they are downplaying; some people don’t think so – let’s find out.”

Velez wrote that his wife is a nurse and that he and his children don’t want to be exposed to what is now in our town. “The risk and anxiety of trying to live in our own home again is not worth it.”

The Norfolk Southern Railroad Detection Site (Voind): Environmental Impact Assessment after the Decay of the Oberlin EPA Rail Line

The EPA also installed “sentinel wells” near the city’s municipal well field to monitor contaminants in well water as part of the agency’s long-term early detection system “to protect the city for years to come,” Vogel, head of the Ohio EPA, said Saturday.

The area was deemed safe after air and water sample results were found to be normal, five days after the train wreck.

Some soil is moved during the initial response phase. The company is continuing to “remediate the site” including by removing soil, spokesperson Connor Spielmaker added.

Cleanup and monitoring of the site could take years, Kurt Kohler of the Ohio EPA’s Office of Emergency Response said February 8, vowing that after the emergency response, “Ohio EPA is going to remain involved through our other divisions that oversee the long-term cleanup of these kinds of spill.” The federal EPA, too, will “continue to do everything in our power to help protect the community,” Administrator Michael Regan said Tuesday.

The documents show that Norfolk Southern hasn’t removed potentially contaminated soil from the site. Norfolk Southern tells CNN it continues to work to clean up the site, including the removal of soil.

“Contaminated soil will continue (to) leech contaminants, both up into the air, and down into the surrounding ground,” Richard Peltier, an environmental health scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, told CNN in an email. “Every time it rains, a flood of new contaminants will enter the ecosystem.”

CNN asked Norfolk Southern why it had not removed contaminated soil before reopening the site, and if it had filled in areas of contaminated soil and chemicals in order to reopen the rail line.

Ben Ratner and his family worry about the impact of the East Palestine derailment on air quality after the first round of the Darus-Fermi disaster

East Palestine resident Ben Ratner and his family worry about the longer-term risks that environmental officials are only beginning to assess, he told CNN this week.

But the Ratners – who played extras in a Netflix disaster film with eerie similarities to the derailment crisis – still are feeling “an ever-changing mix of emotions and feelings just right from the outset, just the amount of unknown that was there,” said Ben, who owns a cafe a few towns over and isn’t sure he still wants to open another in East Palestine.

It is difficult to invest in things like that and feel good about paying your mortgage if there isn’t any value in them in the future. It is difficult to come to grips with.

Norfolk Southern said it was setting up a $1 million fund to help the East Palestine community.

“We will be judged by our actions,” Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement. “We are cleaning up the site in an environmentally responsible way, reimbursing residents affected by the derailment, and working with members of the community to identify what is needed to help East Palestine recover and thrive.”

But when Velez returned Monday for a short visit to the neighborhood where his family has lived since 2014 to check his home and his business, he developed a nagging headache that, he said, stayed with him through the night – and left him with a nagging fear.

State and federal officials have always assured the public that air monitoring has not detected any remaining concerns. Even low levels of contaminants that aren’t considered hazardous can create lingering odors or symptoms such as headaches, Ohio’s health director said Tuesday.

As to odor, residents “in the area and tens of miles away may smell odors coming from the site,” Ohio EPA spokesperson James Lee told CNN on Wednesday. “This is because some of the substances involved have a low odor threshold. This means people may smell these contaminants at levels much lower than what is considered hazardous.”

The Ratner Family, the Ratners, and the East Palestine Train Wreck: Public Relative Concerns about Air Quality and Fire Safety

The Ratner family is limiting its water use because of unknown affects, Ben Ratner said. Every time we turn on the water or give our daughter a bath, Velez is concerned.

Since they were evacuated, the family has been living in another home, but their finances are running out and a friend has set up aGofundme to help them.

“Unfortunately, many of us residents are stuck in the same situation and the sad truth is that there is no answer,” he wrote. “There is no viable solution other than to leave and pay a mortgage on a potentially worthless home.”

Residents of East Palestine gathered in the gym to inquire about their safety after a train wreck that may have spilled hazardous chemicals.

State officials told the crowd that testing so far has shown that air is safe to breathe and that safety testing would continue.

But residents had many questions over health hazards and they demanded more transparency from the railroad operator, Norfolk Southern, which did not attend the gathering, citing safety concerns for its staff.

There were continuing concerns over the huge amount of smoke, odors, and questions over potential threats to pets and wild animals at Wednesday’s meeting.

Why aren’t the railroad folks out there? An Environmental Protection Agency official says it will take full enforcement action over East Palestine’s derailment

Why are they not being more forthcoming? Kathy Dyke said of the railroad. “They’re not out here supporting, they’re not out here answering questions. For three days we didn’t even know what was on the train.”

In and around East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line, residents said they wanted assistance navigating the financial help the railroad offered hundreds of families who evacuated, and they want to know whether it will be held responsible for what happened.

“The pollution, which continues to contaminate the area around East Palestine, created a nuisance, damage to natural resources and caused environmental harm,” Yost said in a letter to the company.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would take control of the cleanup of a Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio earlier this month that released hazardous chemicals into the environment.

Speaking to CNN’s Jason Carroll Thursday morning, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said the agency has full authority to use its enforcement capabilities over the crisis.

“We issued a notice of accountability to the company, and they’ve signed that, indicating that they will be responsible for the cleanup,” Regan told CNN. “But as this investigation continues, and as new facts arise, let me just say, and be very clear, I will use the full enforcement authority of this agency, and so will the federal government, to be sure that this company is held accountable.”

The derailment caused the release of hazardous chemicals into the air and surface water. But more recent air monitoring and water sample tests have shown no concerns with air quality or water quality in East Palestine’s municipal water supply, the EPA said Monday. The agency added that it would publish more detailed data “as it becomes available.”

Despite the assurances, a chemical odor lingered days afterward and officials estimate thousands of fish were killed by contamination washing down streams and rivers, fueling residents’ concerns about water and air safety.

“What have we done about the East Palestine disaster”? A state legislator’s message to the Ohio Department of Agriculture during the recent tornadoes

Hundreds of East Palestine residents gathered to speak at a town hall Wednesday night. The train operator had agreed to attend but later pulled out of the event due to safety concerns.

The town was visited by Regan on Thursday and he saw some of the work done to clean up the mess from the train wreck. The state hasprimary responsibility but the EPA is ready to partner and provide necessary resources.

DeWine asks the CDC for immediate assistance by sending expert medical assistance including doctors and professionals who can evaluate residents who are experiencing symptoms.

In anticipation of rainfall, emergency response teams have plans in place to prevent contaminants not yet removed from the derailment site from washing into local waterways during the storms, DeWine said in a statement.

The risk to livestock remains low and the Ohio Department of Agriculture is reassuring Ohioans that its food supply is safe, DeWine said.

The mayor told the reporters that there were two options, either to blow up the tanks or to blow them up. Chemicals went into the air. I am truly sorry, but that is the only option we had. They were going to blow up, and we were going to have projectiles all across town if we did not do that.

The Ohio State Department of Transportation (OIT) is preparing to release the final version of the Ohio Rail Derailment East Palestine Day

“I need help,” Conaway told reporters Wednesday night. I have the village on my back and I will do whatever it takes to make this right. I haven’t left, but I’m not going anywhere.

“I want the community to know that we hear you, we see you, and that we will get to the bottom of this,” Regan said. “We are testing for all volatile organic chemicals, we’re testing for everything. We’re testing for everything that was on that train. We can present a picture that will protect the community because we are casting a net wide.

A person who lives close to the crash site told CNN that the absence of the company from the meeting was a slap in the face.

Most people wanted to go home, but they had to. So, all the people who had to go home were complaining of smells, pains in their throat, headaches, sickness,” he said. The smell does make you sick, I have gone back a few times. It hurts your head.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-thursday/index.html

East Palestine Residents Aren’t Safe, and the Ohio River is a Better Place for the Public: A Statement of Concerns to the Pennsylvania Railroad Derailment and the County of Kentucky

“I was extremely disappointed that they didn’t show up at the town hall meeting last night. The public deserves transparency, he said. “The public deserves to have the latest information. And so it’s our job, as the federal government, to hold this company accountable, and I promise you we will.”

Speaking to CNN’s Don Lemon, Cozza said the railroad company told her it was safe to return home after conducting air testing. She insisted that the railroad company conduct soil and water tests before a toxicologist deemed her house unsafe.

“Had I not used my voice, had I not thrown a fit, I would be sitting in that house right now, when they told me that it was safe,” Cozza said Thursday.

“My concern is how many of those kids are laying in their bed in East Palestine right now that are not safe,” she said. “I absolutely do not trust them.”

Ohio state officials have opened a health clinic in East Palestine for residents who believe they may have health issues as a result of the derailment, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.

An EPA official told CNN that Michael Regan will return to the town Tuesday to meet with residents and local and state officials.

Medical teams from the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health are expected to arrive in the community as early as this week to assess what dangers remain.

As crews continue cleanup efforts and officials promise accountability, East Palestine residents are still dealing with fears surrounding potential impacts from the toxic wreck.

We should not stop looking at the community for potential health impacts. Some may not occur until later,” said Haynes, adding that anyone experiencing health symptoms should take them seriously and call the poison control center.

Contractors with the EPA install booms and underflow dams to restrict the flow of contaminated water as well as contain and collect floating product to mitigate any possible impacts to the Sulphur Run and Leslie Run streams, they say.

A third utility company – Maysville Utilities in Kentucky– announced that it temporarily shut off water intakes from the Ohio River on Saturday, when the toxic chemicals released into the river from the derailment were expected to arrive at the water treatment intake in Kentucky, the utility’s General Manager Mark Julian said.

Maysville Utilities took precautionary measures in shutting down their Ohio River intake valve, because of the public concern, because water measurement have been below the level of concern.

Water Resources under the East Palestine Railroad Trace Derailment: The EPA and Norfolk Southern are working together to protect the public safety of East Palestine

The soil under the tracks hadn’t been addressed despite the railroad getting the tracks back on and running, DeWine said. The soil will be removed under the order of the administrator. So the tracks will have to be taken up and that soil will have to be removed.”

As skepticism spreads about the safety of the air and water, some local business say they’ve seen fewer customers, despite calls to return to normal life.

The stylist at the hair salon told the station that customers may be wary about the water they are washing their hair with due to the fact that there might be something in it.

“I know a lot of our businesses are already suffering greatly because people don’t want to come here,” local greenhouse owner Dianna Elzer told CNN affiliate WPXI.

A number of officials, including US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have demanded accountability and called for greater safety regulations after the toxic derailment.

In a Wednesday update, DeWine reiterated test results showed water coming from East Palestine’s municipal system was safe to drink, but said officials will continue testing the water weekly to ensure it remains clean.

Crews are still working to respond to the freight disaster in East Palestine as community members worry about possible adverse health effects from the toxic materials released when dozens of cars derailed after a likely mechanical failure.

In addition, Norfolk Southern will be required to identify and clean up any contaminated soil and water resources as well as reimburse the EPA for cleaning services that are available to residents and businesses at the request of the EPA.

“Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess that they created and the trauma that they inflicted,” Regan said. Norfolk Southern will not be allowed to get off the hook for the mess they created.

What Norfolk Southern Did to During the February 3, 2013 Delayed Cargo Delay? A CNBC interview with the Norfolk Southern Corporate Safety & Safety Division

The company has committed more than six million dollars to East Palestine to date and of that $3.8 million was for families impacted by the accident.

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, CEO Alan Shaw responded to criticism from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, saying the company invests more than $1 billion a year in “science-based” safety solutions, including maintaining tracks, equipment and technology.

“It’s pretty clear that our safety culture and our investments in safety didn’t prevent this accident,” Shaw said. “We need to take a look at this and see what we can do differently and what we can do better.”

The crash took place only a few hundred yards from the Ohio- Pennsylvania border, and the EPA was praised for taking charge by the governor of Pennsylvania.

I think that Norfolk Southern was not going to do this because of the goodness of their own heart. There isn’t a lot of goodness in that place. “They needed to be compelled to act.”

On Feb. 3, about three dozen Norfolk Southern freight cars derailed near East Palestine, a town of roughly 4,800. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board will be released next week.

Shaw declined to comment in the CNBC interview on potential causes, citing the investigation. He also said Norfolk Southern is fully cooperating with the NTSB and the Federal Railroad Administration to determine the cause.

The Derailed Pennsylvania Railroad: Is Norfolk-South really clean? The Ohio governor and the governor of Pennsylvania are considering measures to improve air quality and water quality

The derailed cars were carrying hazardous chemicals which are used in the making of hard plastic.

“This is really in response to the concerns that we have heard, that people want to be able to go someplace and get some answers about any kind of medical problems that they believe that they are, in fact, having,” he said.

President Joe Biden echoed the sentiment Tuesday, calling the EPA’s order “common sense.” Their mess is this. The president said in his post that Norfolk Southern should be cleaned up.

The governor of Pennsylvania said the state made a criminal referral against Norfolk Southern. The Ohio attorney general is also reviewing all actions the law “allows him to take,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.

Regan said that he has confidence in the data from the agency that has been testing the air and water quality in the small village near the Pennsylvania border.

Toasting with glasses of tap water from the home of an East Palestine, Ohio, resident, Regan and DeWine sought to quell bubbling concerns about the safety of the water.

Pennsylvania’s governor – who also ordered evacuations after the derailment – alleged Tuesday that the train operator gave officials “inaccurate information” and “refused to explore or articulate alternative courses of action,” in the days following the toxic wreck.

The Norfolk Southern Railroad Company: Monitoring Air Quality, Water Quality, Air Quality and Air Quality after the Cleveland-Jets-Way-Train-Wreck-East Palestine Train Wreck

The President and CEO of Norfolk Southern said that his company has been closely allied with the EPA and local efforts on the ground since the train wreck in East Palestine.

Shaw said that his company continues to monitor air and water quality and has conducted hundreds of tests with thousands of data points, “all of which have come back clean.”

An initial report from federal officials concluded that the train wreck that killed four people in Ohio was preventable and investigators will begin examining procedures, practices and design prior to the train wreck that has sparked long-term concerns among hundreds of residents.

President Biden called on Congress to help implement rail safety measures and accused the Trump administration of limiting the government’s ability to strengthen rail safety measures.

A train wreck or toxic waste spill is not what this is about, according to a post written by Vice President joe Biden.

Concerns remain but the state has opened a new health clinic for East Palestine residents to deal with the reports of headaches, nausea and other symptoms.

The administrator of the EPA said on Tuesday he wasn’t ignoring what people are feeling and asked anyone who was concerned to seek medical attention.

“I believe people when they say that they’re facing adverse impacts. And what we’re doing is we’re asking them to seek medical attention … then we can take that information and add that as part of our response,” Regan said. We don’t discount people’s experiences at all. We ask them to seek medical help while we conduct our investigations.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Conaway stated that they need to clean up the town and people need to feel safe in their homes. “That’s the number one thing. If you don’t feel safe in your house, you won’t feel safe anywhere.

The Ohio Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection (NTSB) Investigate of the February 3 Train Accident on a Newly-Discovered Railroad Track in East Palestine

The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released its preliminary report on the investigation into the February 3 train crash in East Palestine, Ohio, where residents have been complaining about feeling sick after hazardous chemicals seeped into the air, water and soil.

The slowdown was well below the “typical speed range” for a train traveling along that stretch of track, according to documents filed in 2020 with the Federal Railroad Authority.

The mother of two said her son has had bloodied noses every day and she has had skin issues.

While staying at a hotel he has had symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and blood from his nose that have caused him to seek treatment at the emergency room.

In addition to vinyl chloride, chemicals of concern at the site include phosgene and hydrogen chloride, which are released when vinyl chloride breaks down; butyl acrylate; ethylene glycol monobutyl ether acetate; and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. All these chemicals can change when they break down or react with other things in the environment, creating a stew of potential toxins.

“We’re getting everything we need, except answers,” East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway said Wednesday. “We need answers, as far as the health concerns.”

During a town hall, the Governor of Ohio stated that he did not want to downplay any medical problems that could be linked to the accident.

The state also opened a health assessment clinic Tuesday for residents who worry their symptoms could be linked to the wreck. The clinic includes nurses, toxicologists and mental health professionals, and can provide residents with referrals if needed, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

An Emergency Emergency Emergency Plan for the Little Rock Township of Kalifornia, New York, Following a Collision at Fermilab

“We’re going to get the clean-up right, we’re going to reimburse the citizens, we’re going to invest in the long term health of this community,” Shaw said. “I’m going to see this through, and we’re going to be here. We are going to work with the community leaders to help you thrive.

The 15 truckloads of contaminated soil have already been sent to a Michigan facility for disposal. Liquid waste from East Palestine has also been sent to a licensed facility in Texas, but no additional liquid waste will be accepted there.

During the town hall, a resident said that she wasn’t using water because she didn’t know if they were telling the truth or a lie. “I use bottled water. I can not. I don’t trust what they’re saying. I don’t know what the truth is.

The entire town of 5000 people were given a shelter-in-place order. An order to evacuate is issued within a mile of the crash due to the risk of an explosion.

Results from the Norfolk Southern Air Monitoring Agency during the 2011 Pennsylvania Train Wreck & Response to the Correlated Contagion Controversy

EPA community air monitoring readings do not detect any contaminants of concern, they say. Norfolk Southern’s contractor continues to conduct air monitoring, the agency says.

Three locations along Sulphur Run begin to be used for aeration pumps. Aeration helps treat contamination by injecting oxygen into the water. The EPA says that the East Palestine water treatment plant does not have adverse effects. Contractors for the EPA and Norfolk Southern collect water samples.

The EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to stop the shipments so that they could look into their plans for disposal, adding to the controversy surrounding the crash which has left residents worried about long-term health effects.

In addition to real-time air monitoring, the EPA says it is collecting air samples in conjunction with the 52nd Civil Support Team — a specialized unit of the Ohio National Guard — for analysis.

The EPA says it is investigating a complaint of odors from the Darlington Township, Pennsylvania, fire station. A team with air monitoring equipment goes to the station, where it does not observe any contaminants above detection limits.

The EPA and Ohio EPA find spilled materials in Sulphur Run, the EPA says. A leaking tank car is spilling oil onto the ground. Norfolk Southern is notified of the spill and begins removing the product using a vacuum truck.

In the aftermath of the train wreck, Norfolk Southern was solely responsible for disposing of waste, but plans will need to be approved by the EPA.

Residents’ Concerns about Community Air Quality, Water Quality, and Train Derailment in East Palestine: CNN’s View on February 8th Firefighter

Despite officials deeming the air and water samples safe, some residents still have concerns. The officials say residents are encouraged to have their homes cleaned and to seek medical attention if necessary.

The EPA says air monitoring continues. Monitoring since the fire went out has not detected any levels of concern that can be attributed to the incident.

The EPA discontinued phosgene and hydrogen chloride air monitoring. After the fire was extinguished on February 8, the threat of vinyl chloride fire producing phosgene and hydrogen chloride no longer exists. There will continue to be community air monitoring for other chemicals.

Residents in East Palestine fill a high school gym for a meeting with officials regarding the current state of their community, CNN reports.

Instead, local leaders take questions from emotional residents who expressed distrust of officials’ accounts and anger – including at the transport company’s decision to skip the event.

The Regional Administrator is at a community meeting with state and local officials to hear residents’ concerns.

The water is safe to drink according to a press release by the governor. The state says that the test results for the village municipal well did not show any water quality concerns.

Feb. 17 — Gov. Mike DeWine says no derailment contaminants have been found in homes tested for air quality and that there is a section of Sulfur Run near the crash site that remains severely contaminated.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/us/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-timeline/index.html

Water Quality Concerns in East Palestine, Pennsylvania, According to the City of East Palestine and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on a Railroad Derailment

Feb. 19 — The village of East Palestine’s municipal well water sample results show no water quality concerns, the EPA says. The health district is still trying to find private water wells. To date, 52 wells have been sampled, 49 in Ohio, and three across the border in Pennsylvania, the agency says.

It will be sent to a facility in Ohio where some of the liquid waste will be injected into the ground. “Norfolk Southern will also beghin shipping solid waste to the Heritage Incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio.”

EPA staff and contractors will conduct an additional layer of reassurance by offering cleaning services to residents and businesses.

The company said it has a responsibility and will do what is right for the residents of East Palestine.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office says it will investigate the train derailment following a criminal referral it received from the state department of environmental protection, according to a statement from the office.

They will pay full price for it, number two. We will take care of the cleaning up ourselves if they refuse to do anything. The EPA chief said they could fine them up to $70,000 a day.

“And when we recoup our total costs, we can charge them three times of the amount of the cost of the federal government. The law provides that.

The Norfolk Southern East Palestine Train as a Tracer of Oxygen, Lead, Lead and Lead Hazards: An Investigation and Possible Impact on the Response to the Chemical Disaster

The crew was told to slow and stop the train because of the wheel bearing’s “critical” level of temperature.

“This was 100% preventable. … There is no accident. Homendy said at a news conference that every event they investigate is preventable. The goal of the National Transport Safety Board is to ensure that this never happens again.

Plus, investigators will review the train operator’s use of wayside defect detectors and the company’s railcar inspection practices. Homendy said that determining what caused the wheel bearing failure would be key to the investigation.

Another key aspect of the investigation will focus on the response to the chemical disaster, particularly the manual detonations of tanks carrying toxic chemicals.

Since then, some East Palestine residents have said they are experiencing headaches, dizziness, nausea and bloody noses — a host of health issues they say they did not have prior to the crash.

Homendy told Jake Tapper on CNN that the Norfolk Southern train had three employees on board, including an engineer, conductor, and a person in the head of the locomotive.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-friday/index.html

Why should we care about the safety issues in air quality? Insights from the East Palestine resident after the 1993-1997 Yankees-Baxter plane crash

We are deliberative. Homendy said that they are the gold standard when it comes to investigations around the world. “But if we see a safety issue that we need to be addressed immediately, something systemic, we will not hesitate to issue an urgent safety recommendation.”

The intense exchanges left residents frustrated as they said officials dodged their pressing questions, deepening their mistrust in the cleanup process.

The lifelong East Palestine resident told Shaw that he felt his health had been put at risk by the crash.

“Did you shorten my life now? I want to retire and enjoy it. How are we going to enjoy it? Stewart spoke to Shaw, saying that he burned him. You have made me angry.

Shaw said he was unable to answer questions regarding the crash investigation due to the fact that he was forbidden from talking about it.

Norfolk Southern also plans to review the results of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation as well as use data to “figure out what we could’ve done better,” said Shaw, adding the company has already implemented new internal safety measures.

State Sensitivity to East Palestine’s Concerns About the U.S. Environmental Protection after the Cleveland Firefighter’s Decay

The shipments of hazardous waste out of East Palestine, Ohio, have stopped after complaints from the residents and officials in other states.

Shore said the officials would resume transporting the waste to approved disposal sites very soon.

She said that waste disposal plans would have to be approved by the federal EPA.

The Michigan lawmaker said that they were not given a heads up on the reported action. “Our main concern is to keep the people we represent safe.”

Judge Lina Hidalgo of Harris County, Texas, said on Wednesday that she was “very sensitive” to concerns from residents who learned that firefighting water from East Palestine was headed to her state. On Saturday, Hidalgo said she was “heartened” by the EPA’s decision to pause the transports.

In an email to NPR, Spielmaker said that the locations were chosen due to their ability to dispose of these types of waste. “We are working with the US EPA to resume removing waste from East Palestine as soon as possible.”

In response to the concerns of the residents, the EPA was reviewing the transportation routes and facilities that Norfolk Southern had used, but Shore believed they were up to the standards.

She said it was important to the residents of East Palestine as well as those in the communities where the waste might go to ensure the process was done right.

“We know it’s far better to have it safely stored in a properly constructed and monitored disposal facility than to have it remain here any longer than necessary when there are licensed, regulated disposal facilities available that routinely dispose of similar waste,” Shore said during the Saturday press conference in East Palestine. “At the same time I know there are folks in other states with concerns – legitimate concerns – about how this waste is being transported and how it is being disposed of.”

That’s as officials in Texas and Michigan complained they didn’t receive any warning that hazardous waste from the crash would be shipped into their jurisdictions for disposal.

Shipments now will be going to two EPA-certified facilities in Ohio, and Norfolk Southern will start shipments to these locations Monday, EPA regional administrator Debra Shore said at a news conference Sunday.

The cars that were held by theNTSB have been removed from the site, according to the director of the EPA.

Harris County, TX, Will Receive About 2 Million Gallons of Water from a Train Derailment Site in the U.S.

The requirements include everything from waste labeling to package and handling, as well as requirements for shipping documents that give information about the waste and where it is going.

About 2 million gallons of firefighting water from the train derailment site were expected to be disposed in Harris County, Texas, with about half a million gallons already there, according to the county’s chief executive.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, directed federal teams to begin going door-to-door in East Palestine in order to check in with residents.

A 19-person scientific team from the CDC has been interviewing residents in the area since the train wreck to learn about any symptoms they have experienced.

About 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste remained Saturday in storage on site in East Palestine – not including the five truckloads returned, according to DeWine. Solid and liquid waste will be generated as the clean up progresses, he said.

The plans for toxic waste to be delivered to disposal sites in her district were not discussed with her or the governor, she told CNN.

Hidalgo said Texas Molecular told her office Thursday that half a million gallons of the water was already in the county and the shipments began arriving around last Wednesday.

She said that their office had been seeking information about what precautions were taken and why Harris County was chosen.

CNN has yet to get a response from the Ohio agency regarding the location of the remaining 600,000 gallons.