Federal environmental agencies have ordered a temporary halt to shipments of contaminated waste from the site of a burning train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line.
Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore of the Environmental Protection Agency said Saturday the agency had ordered Norfolk Southern to “pause” deliveries from the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in eastern Palestine, but promised that the removal of the material will be resumed “very soon”.
“Everyone wants this contamination to go away from the community. They don’t want to worry, and they don’t want the smell, and we owe it to the people of East Palestine to get it out of the community as soon as possible,” Shore said.
As of Friday, Shore said the railroad was solely responsible for disposing of the garbage and had provided Ohio Environmental Protection Agency with a list of designated and used landfills.
Federal environmental agencies have ordered a halt to shipments of contaminated waste from the site of a burning train derailment in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line
Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore of the Environmental Protection Agency said Saturday the agency had ordered Norfolk Southern to “pause” deliveries from the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in eastern Palestine, but promised that the removal of the material will be resumed “very soon”.
Going forward, disposal plans, including locations and transportation routes for contaminated waste, will be subject to EPA review and approval, she said.
“The EPA will ensure that all waste is disposed of in a safe and lawful manner at EPA-certified facilities to prevent further release of hazardous substances and impact on communities,” Shore said.
She said officials had heard concerns from residents and others in a number of states and were looking at “transporting some of this waste long distances and finding appropriate permitted and certified sites to dispose of the waste.”
The Ohio governor’s office said Saturday night that of the 20 truckloads (about 280 tons) of hazardous solid waste that were hauled away, 15 truckloads of contaminated soil were disposed of at a Michigan hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility while five truckloads were returned to East Palestine.
Liquid waste already trucked from East Palestine would be disposed of at a licensed hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility in Texas, but that facility would not accept any more liquid waste, the Ohio governor’s office said.
“Currently, approximately 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste are stored on site in eastern Palestine, not counting the five truckloads that were returned to the village,” the governor’s office said. “Additional solid and liquid waste will be generated during the cleanup efforts.”
Pictured: The site of the chemical spill as crews work to suppress the pollutants on Friday
The February 3 train derailment sparked a fire visible for miles
About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in the small Ohio town
No one was hurt when 38 Norfolk Southern carriages derailed in a fiery, mangled mess on the outskirts of town, but as fears grew of a possible explosion due to dangerous chemicals in five of the railroad carriages, officials evacuated the area.
They later chose to release toxic vinyl chloride from the tankers and burn it, causing flames and black smoke to rise into the sky again.
Shore said the EPA was not involved in the decision to conduct the controlled burn, but she called it a “well-reasoned” decision by local and state officials, based on information they had at the time, “to use a highly explosive toxic.” chemical to deal with.’
Federal and state officials have repeatedly said it is safe for evacuated residents to return to the area and that air tests across the city and hundreds of homes have found no pollutant levels of concern from the fires or chemicals burned. The state says the local municipal drinking water system is safe and bottled water is available, while testing is being conducted for those with private wells.
Despite these reassurances and a multitude of press conferences and visits from politicians, many residents still express a sense of suspicion or have lingering questions about what they were exposed to and how it will affect the future of their families and their communities.
On Friday, President Joe Biden directed federal authorities to go door-to-door in eastern Palestine, Ohio, to check on families affected by the toxic train derailment.
President Joe Biden was left speechless as he explained to reporters why he has yet to visit East Palestine, Ohio, three weeks after the toxic train derailed
The Biden administration has been accused of being indifferent to the plight of the small Ohio community, where residents are reporting worrying symptoms
Under Biden’s order, teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the federal Agency for Emergency Management will visit homes.
Workers will ask how residents are doing, see what they need and connect them with appropriate resources from governments and nonprofits, the White House said.
The “walk teams” are modeled after similar teams after hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Biden instructed employees to reach as many homes as possible by Monday. Officials said the immediate goal is for at least 400 to visit. The president said he has no plans to visit Ohio in person at this time.
Biden on Friday dismissed the notion that his administration was not present in providing support in a bizarre exchange as he left the White House to spend the weekend at his Delaware home.
“We were there two hours after the train left. Two hours,” Biden said at the White House. “I spoke to all the important figures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. And so the idea that we’re not engaged just isn’t there.
But Democrats – including the clumsy Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg – were accused of initially downplaying the disaster. They were embarrassed to take it more seriously after former President Donald Trump visited the site earlier this week.
An East Palestinian resident awaits the arrival of former US President Donald Trump during his visit to the site of a train and chemical spill in East Palestine
A resident displays a mannequin on his porch in East Palestine, Ohio, as clean-up efforts continue following the February 3 train derailment in Norfolk Southern
Trump boasted earlier this week that he visited the Ohio city before Biden or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg when he delivered water and food
A timeline released by the White House on Friday says the DOT issued an “initial notification of incidents” to members of the Ohio congressional delegation and relevant committees on Saturday, Feb. 4, less than a day after the derailment.
On the same day, the EPA deployed real-time aerial surveillance tools at 12 locations around the wreck site and in the neighboring community, the White House said.
Meanwhile, the controversy spread far beyond the small Ohio town. Officials in Texas and Michigan have expressed concern about contaminated sewage and soil being shipped to their states for disposal.
Biden’s order came as House Republicans opened an investigation into the Feb. 3 derailment, blaming Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for a delayed response to the burning wreckage.
The focus on DOT came even though the EPA this week echoed the federal response, ordering the Norfolk Southern Railway to pay for chemical cleaning and release.
Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, was the latest lawmaker to throw himself into a political proxy war as each party sided with the other after the derailment and chemical leak that led to the evacuation of the small Ohio community .
“Despite the responsibility of the US Department of Transportation to ensure safe and reliable transportation in the United States, you have ignored the disaster for over a week,” the Kentucky Republican said in a letter to Buttigieg.
“The American people deserve answers as to what caused the derailment, and DOT must provide an explanation for its leadership’s apathy in the face of this emergency,” the letter continued.
Buttigieg (centre) arrived the day after Trump, three weeks into the ongoing crisis. He told reporters that he was considering his decision to wait so long
Residents in eastern Palestine have reported going to hospital after the burial with rashes
Meanwhile, Buttigieg has hit back at ex-President Donald Trump, who visited the site this week.
Buttigieg told reporters that if the former president — and current Republican presidential nominee — pushed hard for increased rail safety efforts, “among other things, he might be expressing his support for reversing the deregulation that took place under his oversight.”
On Friday, Buttigieg chided Comer for referring to the DOT’s National Transportation Safety Board in his letter, saying he was “disturbed to learn” that the board chair believes the NTSB is part of our department.
NTSB is independent (and for good reason). Nevertheless, we will of course examine this fully and react appropriately.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized “political stunts that we see from the other side”.
A preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board says the crew of the Norfolk Southern freight train didn’t get much warning before dozens of cars went off the tracks, and there’s no indication the crew members did anything wrong.
Republicans portray the incident as a moral failure by the Biden administration, noting Buttigieg did not visit the site until nearly three weeks after the wreck.
Democrats point to rollbacks made by former President Donald Trump during his tenure that have weakened rail and environmental regulations. EPO Administrator Michael Regan visited the site last week and again on Tuesday.
The dangerous chemicals released in the East Palestine train derailment
A train carrying a variety of toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3.
Some of these chemicals have since been released into the air or soil due to local residents’ concerns about the long-term health effects.
Chemicals released in the derailment include:
Vinyl chloride – rail operator Norfolk Southern said 10 cars burned vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen. It’s a highly volatile colorless gas used to make polyvinyl chloride, a plastic used in plumbing, cables, bottles, and credit cards.
Symptoms of exposure to vinyl chloride include drowsiness, headache, and dizziness. Longer term effects can include cancer and liver damage.
Hydrogen Chloride – In an attempt to mitigate the effects of vinyl chloride, officials conducted a controlled explosion of the train cars, releasing hydrogen chloride.
The chemical is irritating and corrosive to any tissue it comes in contact with, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn.
Brief exposure can cause throat irritation, but exposure to higher levels can cause rapid breathing, constriction of the bronchioles, blue discoloration of the skin, fluid buildup in the lungs, and even death.
Phosgene – a chemical that was also released in the controlled explosion.
Like hydrogen chloride, phosgene irritates the skin, eyes and respiratory tract.
Common initial symptoms are mild irritation of the eyes and throat with some coughing, choking, nausea, occasional vomiting, headache and chest tightness.
Phosgene poisoning can also cause respiratory and cardiovascular failure, low blood pressure, and fluid buildup in the lungs.
Ethylhexyl acrylate – a chemical carried on the train
It is a known carcinogen that can cause burning and irritation to the skin and eyes. Inhaling the substance can also irritate the nose and throat, causing shortness of breath and coughing.
Isobutylene was also transported on the train.
Inhaling isobutylene can cause dizziness and drowsiness
Ethylene glycol monobutyl was another substance shipped to Pennsylvania.
It can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, nose, and throat, as well as hematuria (or blood in the urine), nervous system depression, headache, and vomiting.