Newsletter: East Palestine Train Derailment Response, 4-4-2024
Newsletter serving Serving East Palestine, Negley, Darlington, and surrounding communities
Progress Made
Final Culvert Cleanout
Cleanup activities, including sediment removal, began in the remaining culvert that starts underneath Liberty Street. The cleaning targets specific areas where oil sheen was observed during the assessment completed in December 2023. A high-powered vacuum hose is used to remove sediments inside the metal pipe section of the culvert. A control point is installed at the downstream end of the work area to contain and capture any released sheen that is not captured by the vacuum operation. This is the only culvert left to be addressed as four were previously cleaned last year. As of April 5, work has not resumed due to heavy rains and high water levels.
Stream Cleaning Operations
On March 25, Norfolk Southern began sediment cleanup in Sulphur Run. EPA later directed Norfolk Southern to suspend cleanup operations and evaluate how to more effectively contain and recover sheen from sediments. Once EPA approves an improved operational approach by Norfolk Southern, stream cleaning will resume. It’s expected that stream and culvert cleaning will both resume during the week of April 8 as long as water levels in the creeks are not too high.
Water Treatment Plant
Operations at the on-site wastewater treatment plant are reduced to sediment filtering capabilities only. As of March 14, water has been mostly disposed of as nonhazardous (without treatment) after testing shows it doesn’t contain site contaminants. This change reflects the success of the cleanup.
Update on Final Confirmation Sampling
Final confirmation sampling – the “double-check” to make sure hazardous substances are cleaned up to meet long-term cleanup standards – is approximately 57% complete. Details about this work can be found online in the Appendix E workplan. Sampling will look for any remaining soil contamination that may present a long-term risk from the spilled materials. The plan applies to a large industrial area and includes properties that were impacted directly and potentially by the derailment and cleanup efforts. If any soil that is sampled shows an exceedance of the screening level, it triggers an evaluation of the area to define the geographic extent of the exceedance. Then, assessment of that area will determine if more action is necessary. Of roughly 1,900 soil samples for volatile organic compounds taken so far, only about 1% have had low-level exceedances of the screening level for any chemical. This continues to confirm initial removal work was effective.
Project Spotlight: ACE Survey Follow-up
Residents and first responders who took the Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) survey can take a follow up survey to report any changes that may have occurred. The follow-up survey includes questions about participants’ ongoing health symptoms, medical care received, and outstanding health concerns and needs. The survey will be available until April 30.
Ohio residents will be contacted by the Columbiana County Health District via email, if provided, or phone. If you didn’t get a chance to take the survey the first time, you can use the following link to record your initial responses: East Palestine 2024 New responses ACE Community Survey
Pennsylvania residents can access the survey for community members atFollow-up Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) Community Survey [HD002491], or for first responders at Follow-up Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) First Responder Survey [HD002489]. To take the survey in-person, you can visit the Darlington Township Municipal Building on April 9, 18 or 25 from 4-8 p.m. or April 10, 19 or 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Agriculture Update
In April 2023, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and The Ohio State University conducted plant tissue sampling of crops in East Palestine and did not find contamination with semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Thirty-one samples were collected within a 5-mile radius of the derailment, and included tissue from winter wheat, malting barley, pasture grasses, rye, and forage covers. In 2023, Columbiana County crop producers saw yields above historical averages, consistent with trends in surrounding counties and statewide. For sampling results and maps visit Testing & Results. For 2023 crop stats visit: Ohio County Crop Estimates
Community Corner: Research Consortium
On April 10 from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the Ohio/Pennsylvania University Research Consortium will host a science update at The Way Station in East Palestine. The meeting will explore the scope and limits of publicly available data collected after the train derailment, including what’s been learned about air, plant, and water exposures, and a summary of the health issues and symptoms reported following the derailment. The Consortium is made up of researchers from seven universities, the East Palestine health community, and responding agencies with the goal of providing accurate, data-driven information.
Community Corner: Well Sampling Funding for Columbiana County
Funding for the residential well sampling project was secured in the recent federal budget and will help ensure residential well water in Columbiana County is safe to drink where municipal water is not available. The Columbiana County Health District has been sampling residential wells as part of the derailment response since April 2023. The local health department will share more information as it becomes available.
