EAST PALESTINE, OHIO (AP) – Shipment of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line will resume today to two approved sites in Ohio, according to federal environmental authorities.
The announcement came a day after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered Norfolk Southern to “pause” shipments from the site of the February 3 derailment in East Palestine to allow additional oversight measures about where waste was shipped. Some liquid and solid waste had already been taken to sites in Michigan and Texas.
EPA-certified facilities able to accept some of the waste had been identified, which meant shipments could restart today, Region 5 administrator Debra Shore, of the EPA, said on Sunday.
Some of the liquid waste will be sent to a facility in Vickery, Ohio, for disposal in an underground injection well, Shore said. Norfolk Southern will also begin shipping solid waste to an incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio, and additional solid waste disposal locations were being sought, she said.
“All of this is great news for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding community, because it means cleanup can continue at a rapid pace,” she said.
