Indiana to test waste coming from Ohio derailment

Indiana has hired a private contractor to test materials from last month’s East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment slated to go to an Indiana industrial landfill.

Pace Labs was expected to begin its testing Friday, according to a statement from Gov. Eric Holcomb. The governor said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Heritage Environmental Services had been contacted and the state urged both parties “to cooperate closely” with Pace.

Pace will test for “dangerous levels of dioxins,” according to Holcomb’s statement.

“All of us can agree that we should do everything within our control to provide assurance to our communities,” he said. “This testing is the next necessary step.”

Heritage runs an industrial hazardous waste landfill in Roachdale, 40 miles west of Indianapolis. The EPA announced earlier this week that site was selected to receive materials from the Feb. 3 derailment of a 150-car Norfolk Southern train that contained such products as vinyl chloride.

East Palestine, on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, is roughly 350 miles east of Roachdale.

While the EPA previously said it notified states set to receive toxic waste from the wreck, Holcomb, in his statement, said he only learned the Roachdale site was officially chosen during a press briefing Monday from the disaster site.

“This was made after our administration directly conveyed that the materials should go to the nearest facilities, not moved from the far eastern side of Ohio to the far western side of Indiana,” Holcomb said. “As you can expect, I expressed as much to the EPA administrator when we spoke on the phone Tuesday.”

EPA Region Five Administrator Debra Shore said earlier this week the Indiana site was chosen because facilities in Ohio did not have enough space to take all the materials from the train wreck.

Late Friday, Holcomb announced the EPA would begin testing materials for dioxins before that waste would be shipped to Indiana. Truckloads already en route would be tested starting Saturday, with results from Pace likely coming back early next week.

“This is the right decision for the EPA to take this important step,” he said.

Holcomb added Heritage was also cooperating with the state’s request.