EPA orders Norfolk Southern to clean up chemicals spilled in Ohio train derailment
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The federal Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Norfolk Southern to clean up the chemicals spilled from the railroad’s derailed train in East Palestine, Ohio, and remove all contaminated soil and water, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced Tuesday.
Speaking at a news conference in the Columbiana County village, Regan said the Atlanta-based railroad must submit to the EPA a work plan outlining “every single necessary step” to clean up the environmental damage from the Feb. 3 derailment.
The EPA also will offer free cleaning services to residents living near the crash site, with Norfolk Southern covering the cost, Regan said. Norfolk Southern officials must attend and participate in public meetings about the derailment.
If Norfolk Southern doesn’t complete any action ordered by the EPA, Regan said, his agency would do the work itself and force the railroad to pay three times the cost.
“I know this order cannot undo the nightmare that families in this town have been living with,” Regan said. “But it will begin to deliver much-needed justice for the pain that Norfolk Southern has caused.”
The East Palestine derailment has become an increasing political headache for the Biden administration, which critics say has been slow to respond since the crash almost three weeks ago.
Derailed tanker cars spilled toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. Federal and state officials, fearing the vinyl chloride tanks would explode, set them afire, creating a massive plume of thick black smoke.
Other chemicals seeped into local streams, killing fish and traveling down into the Ohio River. Some residents evacuated and have been living in hotels until they’re convinced their homes are safe; others have reported headaches, sore throats and other symptoms.
So far, air and drinking-water testing in the area around the derailment haven’t shown any contamination, according to Gov. Mike Dewine. Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff previously said there had been no sign so far that the spilled chemicals caused any health issues among locals.
Dewine said municipal water would continue to be tested once per week. He also said Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Anne Vogel was looking at, in the long term, helping residents that get water from private wells to get connected to the local water system.
A free clinic opened Tuesday in East Palestine for residents to have any symptoms checked. So far, about 40 people have signed up for appointments, Dewine said.
“We’re not discounting what people are experiencing at all,” Regan said. “We just ask that they seek medical help while we conduct all of our investigations.”
Dewine, a Republican, reiterated that Norfolk Southern needed to pay for “anything that they caused” related to the crash. However, he didn’t criticize the railroad as sharply as Regan or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat.
“The combination of Norfolk Southern’s corporate greed, incompetence and lack of care for our residents is absolutely unacceptable to me,” Shapiro said.
Asked to comment on Regan’s order and Shapiro’s comment, Norfolk Southern said in a statement that the company has been paying for clean-up activities and would continue to do so.
“We recognize that we have a responsibility, and we have committed to doing what’s right for the residents of East Palestine,” the company stated. “We are committed to thoroughly and safely cleaning the site, and we are reimbursing residents for the disruption this has caused in their lives. We are investing in helping East Palestine thrive for the long-term, and we will continue to be in the community for as long as it takes. We are going to learn from this terrible accident and work with regulators and elected officials to improve railroad safety.”
Dewine renewed his call for Congress to take a “hard look” at improving rail safety, particularly by passing a law requiring railroads to notify state officials when trains hauling hazardous materials come into the state.
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-ohio, whose district includes East Palestine, said he had been “actively engaged” with other members of Congress about possible rail safety reforms.
However, Johnson said, federal lawmakers will wait until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation into the cause of the derailment. “That will dictate whether there are laws or regulations that need to be changed, whether there were rules that were violated,” Johnson said.
Dewine said East Palestine residents repeatedly expressed concerns that when the public fervor over the derailment died down in the years to come, the community would be left to handle the problem on its own. He sought to reassure locals that state government would remain as long as it took until every problem from the derailment was addressed.
“We’re in this for the long run,” Dewine said. “When the cameras are gone, we’re still going to be here.”