Federal and state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials were questioned about the East Palestine train derailment at a Tuesday hearing of the U.S. House Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee over a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
Debra Shore, the regional administrator of the U.S. EPA Region 5, and Anne Vogel, the director of the Ohio EPA, both gave testimony and detailed the actions they have taken in reaction to the incident.
Vogel (pictured above, left) and Shore (pictured above, right) claim that they have been diligent in holding Norfolk Southern accountable and that they are continuing to test the air, soil, and water as well as remove and dispose of any contaminated soil even though there have been some delays.
According to U.S. Representative and committee co-chair Bill Johnson (R-OH-06), the soil removal and disposal process has been a “bumpy road to say the least.”
“As we speak, there is a many thousands of tons toxic dirt pile still sitting there very slowly being trucked out because the proper legal certified disposal process was improperly turned into a political football,” Johnson said.
The EPA details that so far crews have removed approximately 10,990 tons of the 26,500 tons of excavated contaminated soil and about 9.1 million gallons of wastewater from the area.
Johnson questioned Shore about a situation where a licensed waste disposal facility forbade the disposal of contaminated soil by ordering trucks to turn around at the gate.
According to Shore, this occurrence took place before the EPA took ownership of it in accordance with the unilateral decision for facilities not to reject soil.
“The instance you cite occurred before EPA assumed responsibility under the unilateral administrative order for the cleanup. We don’t know who told those trucks to turn around whether it was the disposal facility itself or someone else,” Shore said.
Johnson contended that Shore was incorrect in her statement.
“I was there when that order was given and it was a couple of weeks later before those trucks were turned around,” Johnson said.
According to Shore, Norfolk Southern has had other instances where it entered into contracts with licensed, permitted disposal facilities that were on the approved list for offsite disposal of hazardous waste, and political officials turned them away.
“But that was illegal for them to do that under the law,” Johnson said.
Vogel stated that the Ohio EPA is prioritizing the removal of the contaminated water and soil from East Palestine. Vogel expects this process to take at least two more months. Norfolk Southern may not rebuild the train tracks until the Ohio EPA confirms that all of the contaminated soil is gone.
The Ohio EPA is now analyzing four sentinel wells that sit between the contaminated creeks as well as weekly water samples. According to Vogel, test data shows that there was no pollution linked to the incident.
“We are making progress in the removal of chemicals from Sulfer Run and Leslie Run. We know those creeks are contaminated but we were encouraged that earlier this month we found sensitive aquatic life such as hellbender salamanders downstream of the derailment,” Vogel said.
Shore stated that the EPA is no longer in an emergency response period but has transitioned to a remediation period. Shore said that to “compel Norfolk Southern to do the job of cleaning up the mess it made,” is what EPA is currently aiming for.
According to Shore, the EPA intends to continue to monitor the air, water, and soil in the years following the derailment.
According to U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA-05) there will be an additional hearing with Norfolk Southern representatives in attendance to testify and answer questions.
“We will have our day to ask questions to the railroad but today is not our day,” Johnson said.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Anne Vogel” by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Photo “Debra Shore” by Debra Shore. Background Photo “East Palestine, Ohio” by 636Buster. CC BY-SA 4.0.
