Work continues on waterways five months after derailment

EAST PALESTINE -- The Environmental Protection Agency reports it has recently approved Norfolk Southern's work plan of waterway remediation as cleanup efforts from February's Norfolk Southern train derailment continue in Leslie and Sulphur Runs.

"While work is ongoing, EPA is reviewing work plans for further assessment and cleanup that will ensure community safety in the years to come," the agency said on its website.

When it comes to Leslie and Sulphur Runs -- the two creeks that snake through the village -- the EPA continues to monitor contaminants until a complete evaluation of the surface water is conducted.

"Stream assessments are continuing, with sediment washing at locations in both streams to liberate any sheen so that it can be captured by booms located downstream," the agency stated via epa.gov. "This is an interim measure until a full assessment of the impacted waterways, including sediments, is conducted. Operations teams are also continuing to evaluate and reduce stormwater runoff to Sulphur Run."

The EPA describes sediment as "the loose sand, clay, silt and other soil particles that settle at the bottom of a body of water" and sediment washing as "a technique that involves disturbing the sediment to release the contaminants to the surface of the water, and the contaminants are then removed from the water by vacuum trucks."

Five months after the derailment and chemical spill, the condition of the streams continues to concern residents. The EPA has repeatedly maintained no pathway to exposure but has also repeatedly confirmed that both Sulphur and Leslie Runs continue to show signs of "gross" contamination. When it rains, water from the streams floods basements. Residents insist if that water is still contaminated then so are the houses that flood along the creeks.

The EPA-approved Norfolk Southern work plan regarding the waterways is known as Surface Water Sampling and Analysis Plan (SWSAP). The plan, prepared by Norfolk Southern contractor CTEH, was last updated on June 28 and available to view at the EPA East Palestine train derailment website.

In the SWSAP, the original constituents of interest (COI) associated with the event related to surface water were identified as vinyl chloride, n-butyl acrylate, 2-butoxyethanol, isobutylene, benzene, and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate. A week after the derailment the COI list was updated to include total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) to assess the presence of lube oil in surface waters downstream from the derailment site. In March, the COI list was updated to include glycols to assess the presence of glycols in surface waters.

According to the Appendix C of the SWSAP, 875 exceedances of 18 COIs have been detected in surface water samples since the derailment. The most exceedances were 2-butoxyethanol (277), N-butyl acrylate (146), 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (83), Benzo(a)Pyrene (28), diethylene glycol (28), vinyl chloride (13), and Indeno (1,2,3-cd) Pyrene (13) and fluoranthene (11).

The effects of chronic exposure of those compounds on the human body are wide ranging, from skin irritation to nausea to birth defects, and most of the COIs are extremely harmful to aquatic life.

However, while some of the COIs were still detected as late as June 12 -- the date that the appendix was last updated on -- the last date of an exceedance was May 1. The return of marine life to the streams also indicates that the quality of the waterways is improving.

"We've done a lot of work addressing the impacts that we saw," said Chris Hunsicker, regional manager of Environmental Operations at Norfolk Southern. "Right now, we are seeing wildlife coming back into the creeks. If you go up on Sulphur Run, you can see little fish swimming up and down. We are seeing creeks restore and the conditions are getting better all the time. We're making progress. We know we are not done there, but we are making good progress, and ecological conditions are improving."

The EPA also approved the railroad's work plans concerning sentinel wells and groundwater sampling. Those plans are also available at www.epa.gov/east-palestine-oh-train-derailment.

In other remediation news, the EPA reports that 78,709 tons of contaminated ground and 24,310,347 gallons of liquid waste has been removed from the site. Air monitoring continues at 15 locations within a half a mile of the site and sampling activities using summa canisters is ongoing with air-quality data continuing to read below screening levels. Excavation of soil at the car-scrapping area continued last week and asphalt paving began near the intersection of Pleasant Drive and Martin Street. East Taggart Street remains closed.

selverd@mojonews.com