As crews remove contaminated soil and fluid from a toxic train crash site in Ohio, there are concerns about where it is headed.



CNN

After a short pause, loads of contaminated liquid and soil from Toxic train crash in East Palestine, Ohio resumed after cross country worries about where hazardous waste goes.

Environmental Protection Agency approved the shipment of contaminated waste to two EPA-certified facilities in Ohio: Heritage Thermal Services in East Liverpool and Vickery Environmental in Vickery.

The move came after officials in Texas and Michigan complained they had received no warning that the waste from the toxic crash site would be disposed of. sent to their states for disposal. The EPA ordered the train operator, Norfolk Southern, to halt shipments on Friday so it can review the company’s scrapping plans.

Questions about the disposal of toxic waste from February 3 crash exacerbated the controversy surrounding the accident, which also caused concern among residents of the city. potential long-term health effects.

The mayor of East Liverpool, one of the cities in Ohio where they plan to burn waste, expressed concern about the process, but said the EPA assured him that everyone was following the necessary rules.

“We have a two-year-old daughter and that certainly worries us,” Mayor Gregory T. Bricker said. “But, again, I think this is a modern facility that can handle this type of waste.”

About 1.8 million gallons of liquid waste and 4,832 cubic yards of solid waste have been removed from the crash site so far, according to the Ohio Governor’s office. Mike DeWine.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has given Norfolk Southern and other major railroad companies a deadline this week to say if they will participate in the Confidential Closed Call Notification System is a voluntary program that allows workers to report safety hazards.

“This common sense program encourages employees to report safety hazards, including conditions that could lead to derailment, protecting these workers from retaliation when they report it,” Buttigieg wrote in a letter on Monday. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw.

The transport minister said that “no major freight rail company participates” in the Closed Call Confidential Messaging System, also known as C3RS.

“By refusing to take this common sense step, you are sending an unwanted message about your level of commitment to the safety of your workers and the American communities in which you work,” Buttigieg wrote.

“I ask you to join the C3RS program now, even as our Department takes the appropriate steps to make this program mandatory.”

Buttigieg first called for the changes in a Feb. 14 letter to railroads, but now he’s speaking directly to railroad CEOs and asking them to respond to the Department of Transportation “before the end of the week.”

After that, according to Buttigieg, he “will provide the public with a summary of which companies have agreed to this important security measure and which have refused.”

Hazardous waste that has already been sent to Michigan and Texas is being recycled, EPA Regional Administrator Debra Shore said Sunday.

Approximately 2 million gallons of firefighting water were thrown from the train wreck. it is expected to be disposed of in Harris County, Texas.where there are already about half a million gallons, the county chief said last week.

In Michigan, contaminated soil from the crash site was taken to a US Ecology Wayne waste disposal facility in Belleville, Michigan, USA. Debbie Dingell from Michigan said.

Until Friday, Norfolk Southern had “sole responsibility” for the disposal of waste generated from the train derailment, but waste disposal plans “will be subject to further review and approval by the federal environmental protection agency,” Shore said.

Shore said Sunday that every aspect of hazardous waste transportation and disposal “from the moment trucks and railcars are loaded to the safe disposal of waste” will be tightly regulated and monitored by federal, state and local governments.

Speaking to the people of East Palestine, Shor said that “we have an obligation to the people of East Palestine to get them out of the community as soon as possible.”

“At the same time,” Shor added, “I know that there are people in other states who have legitimate concerns about how this waste is transported and how it will be disposed of. EPA will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to use our years of experience and knowledge in these matters to ensure health and safety, and to support the East Palestine community and hold Norfolk Southern accountable.”

Crews clean up and dispose of the wreckage of the Norfolk Southern train derailment on February 20.

Fiery derailment and subsequent deliberate release vinyl chloride from train cars left with the inhabitants of East Palestine concern for the safety of your air and water. Some reported rashheadaches, nausea and bloody noses.

So far, public drinking tests in East Palestine have found “no indication of risk to users of East Palestine’s public water supply” and “no contaminants associated with the crash have been found in treated drinking water.” The Environmental Protection Agency stated in Sunday update.

Air quality tests of 578 homes in East Palestine found no pollutants associated with the crash, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

But residents are still worried, and federal teams go door to door to conduct health screenings and provide informational leaflets after President Joe Biden directed it, a White House spokesman told CNN.

New wells will be drilled this week “to determine if the groundwater directly below the derailment site is contaminated,” DeWine’s office said Sunday.

Four wells have already been drilled, officials said, and three more will be drilled this week after the rails are completely cleared.

“These monitor wells will also help better understand the direction and speed of groundwater flow in the area,” DeWine’s office said.

As for the wreckage, all but the 11 railcars detained by investigators were removed from the crash site, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director Ann Vogel said Sunday.

“This is very important for moving on to the next steps. Now we can dig out additional contaminated soil and start installing observation wells,” Vogel said.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will oversee the installation of water monitoring wells at the crash site, which will measure contamination levels in groundwater below.

While the crash was100% prevention“It looks like the train crew did nothing wrong that caused the derailment,” said Jennifer Homendy, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

NTSB preliminary report Homendy said last week that one of the train cars carrying plastic pellets got hot from a hot axle, causing the initial fire. The report said video of the train before the crash showed it was an overheated wheel bearing.

The key to the investigation will be what caused the wheel bearing to fail, Homendy said.

The investigation will also examine train wheelsets and bearings, tank and rail car designs, maintenance procedures and practices, and derailment damage, the NTSB report said.