Evacuation order lifted in East Palestine as cleanup continues at train derailment site
An evacuation order has been lifted for the area around last week’s train derailment in East Palestine on the Ohiopennsylvania border, Gov. Mike Dewine announced Wednesday.
At an afternoon press conference, Dewine and other officials said residents who live within the one-mile evacuation zone are being offered air quality checks of their homes.
Multiple agencies are monitoring air and water quality in streams around the derailment area, including the Ohio River.
Officials said that none of the air or water contamination detected outside the derailment site was within limits considered hazardous to humans.
Residents are being given directions around ongoing road closures to regain access to their properties.
“I think we can expect Norfolk Southern to have answers to exactly what happened. The key will be to explain what they’re going to do to prevent that from happening here or somewhere else in the future,” Dewine said. “It would appear that we’ve gotten out of this without any major problem other than great inconvenience and scaring a lot of people.”
About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash in East Palestine around 9 p.m. Friday as the train was heading from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania.
All but five cars containing vinyl chloride were removed from the scene when authorities became alarmed that the cars could explode after a “drastic temperature change” was observed in one of them. A decision was made to remove the chemical through a controlled burn, which began around 4 p.m. Monday and lasted into the evening.
Eric Marotta can be reached at emarotta@gannett.com.