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Amid objections from Michigan authorities who said they were not aware hazardous materials were headed into their state, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered a temporary pause on shipments of contaminated waste from the site of Norfolk Southern Railway’s Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
“Everyone wants this contamination gone from the community,” EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore said. “They don’t want the worry, and they don’t want the smell, and we owe it to the people of East Palestine to move it out of the community as quickly as possible.”
Shore vowed that the removal process will resume “very soon.”
On Feb. 3, a Norfolk Southern train carrying 151 cars derailed in East Palestine, a village of 4,761 in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania border.
The National Transportation Safety Board reported that the train included 20 cars with hazardous materials, 11 of which derailed.
Seeking to avoid an uncontrolled explosion that officials claimed would send shrapnel into the air, toxic vinyl chloride was intentionally released and burned from five cars on Feb. 6, sending a massive cloud of black smoke into the sky that could be seen for miles around and was likened to a mushroom cloud caused by a nuclear weapon.
The burn triggered questions about the health effects that could potentially impact the residents of East Palestine.EPA Takes Over Waste Disposal
Norfolk Southern had been responsible for waste disposal until Friday, Shore said. The railroad provided Ohio environmental officials with a list of disposal sites.
Moving forward, Shore explained that disposal plans including locations and transportation routes for contaminated waste will be subject to EPA review and approval.
“EPA will ensure that all waste is disposed of in a safe and lawful manner at EPA-certified facilities to prevent further release of hazardous substances and impacts to communities,” Shore said.
On Feb. 21, the U.S. EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for cleanup costs in East Palestine.
“Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess that they created and the trauma that they inflicted on this community,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said.
