Dam burst, eastern Palestine soil flood incinerated with new toxin fears

Conor here: To be fair, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says it’s completely under control. From Highland County Press:

According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the contractor created a depression in the dam to reduce overflow and lower the water level, and then vacuum trucks were used to collect the spilled water.

This mitigation work allowed the contractor to control runoff in the crash area, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency does not believe that any visible contaminated waste entered the streams.

Besides, The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says:

  • Approximately 230,000 gallons were shipped to Vickery Environmental in Vickery, Ohio for disposal by deep well injection.
  • Approximately 2.1 million gallons were shipped to Texas Molecular in Deer Park, Texas for disposal by deep well injection.
  • Approximately 320,000 gallons were delivered to a Detroit production well in Romulus, Michigan for disposal by deep well injection.
  • About 1970 tons of municipal solid waste were also removed from the crash site.
  • Approximately 290 tons were delivered to Ross Incineration Services in Grafton, Ohio for incineration.
  • Approximately 800 tons were taken to Heritage Thermal Services in East Liverpool, Ohio for incineration.
  • Approximately 440 tons were sent to the US Ecology Wayne Disposal in Belleville, Michigan for disposal in a landfill.
  • Approximately 440 tons were taken to Heritage Environmental Services in North Roachdale, Indiana for disposal at a landfill.

For some reason, the inhabitants of Eastern Palestine and near the landfills are not reassured.

John Qualley, Editor-in-Chief Shared Dreams:

Friday night’s collapse of a makeshift dam meant to contain sewage and new concerns from local groups and residents about a nearby burning of contaminated soil from last month’s train derailment are the latest alarming woes affecting the East Palestine, Ohio community.

Watchdogs on the ground said the dam broke after heavy rains in the area on Friday.

In accordance with local news channel 19:

Residents tell 19 News that heavy rain caused Leslie Run Creek to rise and spill over a makeshift dam near the crash site. 19 News was able to obtain several photos of the water from this man-made dam that covers the Main Street area of ​​the city.

Residents fear that contaminated water could seep into homes or businesses, causing yet another fear for those living in the area.

Local resident Eric Cozza told the news agency that he was afraid of what the released waters could do to the population. “I’m afraid that now that the chemical is in the ground, it will seep into the water lines, our drinking water aquifer,” Cozza said. “I am concerned that the park is now polluted. Children will not be able to play there or walk on their way to school.”

News Coup News, which reports from Eastern Palestine and speaks to residents after the disaster, reported Friday night that flooding from a dam failure is heading “to the parking lot of The Original Roadhouse restaurant, where many locals eat and drink.” .

exit too informed that the photos of the collapsed dam posted on social media were taken by local resident Neko Figli, who was told by the contractors to leave the area because it was now “very dangerous to be here.”

River Valley Organizing, a multiracial working-class group active in the Ohio River Valley region, said in a statement Friday that East Palestinians continue to be ignored, a month after 38 railcars on a Norfolk Southern train derailed. February 3rd.

“It’s been a month since our lives were turned upside down,” the band said, “and we still aren’t getting what we need from the government or Norfolk Southern. We have heard the people of this community loud and clear: they need safe homes and independent environmental and health testing—right now.”

On Saturday, The Guardian reported new concerns about the burning of contaminated soil taken from the crash site, not least because one of the nearby sites where the material is removed has a history of EPA violations. According to the Guardian:

The new plan is ‘terrifying’, said Kayla Bennett, a former [EPA] official now with civil servants for non-commercial responsibility for the environment. She is one of many public health and community advocates who have criticized Norfolk Southern’s decision, as well as state and federal officials. […]

Soil burning is especially risky because some of the pollutants that residents and independent chemical experts fear are in the waste, such as dioxins and PFAS, have not been EPA tested and do not burn easily or cannot be burned.

“Why on earth would you take this already heavily overburdened community and ship this junk miles away only to have it returned to where it came from?” Bennet asked.

She’s next said the Guardian that “the most important thing, in my opinion, is human health and the health of the environment” and that burning this toxic material in such conditions is contrary to “basic human decency and science.”

Penn Future, which monitors air and water quality in neighboring Pennsylvania, said the flare plans are very worrying.

“The plan to burn dioxin- and PFAS-contaminated soil due to Norfolk Southern’s toxic spill deeply worries us and will continue to cause distrust and concern,” the group said. said. “It is not clear if the plan will work and put the downwind population at risk of infection.”

According to an update from the office of the Republican Governor of Ohio. Mike Devine, of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said about 1,700 tons of solid waste had been removed from the disaster site in East Palestine as of Friday.

From this waste reportsThe Chronicle-Telegram, 660 tons were shipped to Heritage Thermal Services, a company that has committed a number of past violations, in East Liverpool, Ohio, DC, near East Palestine. Another 190 tons were taken to the Giles incinerator for statewide incineration, while 880 tons of solid waste were sent out of state to landfills in Michigan and Indiana.

Meanwhile, 3.2 million gallons of liquid sewage has been collected in the area, most of which is shipped out of state to facilities in Michigan and Texas for injection into deep wells.

Amanda Kiger, director of the River Valley Organizing, said one of her concerns is burning toxins in close proximity to East Palestinians.

The EPA and other government officials, she told The Guardian, “are just spouting more shit on DC,” Kiger said. “They’re saying, ‘We already poisoned them, so it doesn’t matter if we poison them more.’ “.

As for Kozza, who spoke to 19 News about the dam breach and whose family had already been diagnosed with skin irritation, he said the smell of chemicals is now back in the area.

“I’m afraid,” he said. “I had a fear and now it just puts the anxiety in the first place.”

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