Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb criticized a plan from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move waste from the derailed train site in East Palestine, Ohio, to a landfill in Indiana.
Officials from the EPA told media outlets Monday that contaminated waste the derailment will be taken to an incinerator in Grafton, Ohio, and a landfill in Roachdale, Indiana. Both locations are hundreds of miles away from East Palestine.
The EPA now is getting close to having enough certified facilities to take all of the waste from the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Debra Shore, a regional administrator with the agency, told The Associated Press. Some of the remaining liquid waste is going to a facility in Vickery, Ohio, for disposal in an underground injection well. Norfolk Southern is also shipping solid waste to an incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio, officials also said.
“After learning third-hand that materials may be transported to our state yesterday, I directed my environmental director to reach out to the agency,” Holcomb said in a release. “The materials should go to the nearest facilities, not moved from the far eastern side of Ohio to the far western side of Indiana. I have made a request to speak to the administrator to discuss this matter. I want to know exactly what precautions will be taken in the transport and disposition of the materials.”
What would be carried to the Indiana site is not clear. Norfolk Southern told the EPA in a letter earlier this month that vinyl chloride, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, and other chemicals were being carried by the train.
As of Tuesday, the EPA has not issued a public response to Holcomb’s statement. The Epoch Times has contacted the EPA for comment.
No one was injured when 38 rail cars derailed more than three weeks ago. Amid fears of a potential explosion, officials opted to release and burn vinyl chloride from five tanker cars, sending toxic black smoke billowing into the sky that could be seen for miles.
When officials burned the vinyl chloride, they evacuated East Palestine. Residents were allowed to return home days later, and many complained of a range of health problems, including bronchitis, rashes, nausea, headaches, and other conditions.
Animals have been impacted, too, according to locals. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said last week that tens of thousands of of small fish were found dead in East Palestine after the derailment and release of the chemicals on board.
Federal and state officials have repeatedly said air testing in the village and inside hundreds of homes hasn’t detected any concerning levels of contaminants. The state also has said the local municipal drinking water system is safe. Despite assurances, many residents are worried about what they were exposed to and how it will impact the area.
The spokesperson noted that the researchers’ findings “assume a lifetime of exposure, which is constant exposure over approximately 70 years. The EPA doesn’t anticipate such chemicals to remain elevated “for anywhere that long,” the spokesperson said.
“We are committed to staying in East Palestine and will continue to monitor the air inside and outside of homes to ensure that these levels remain safe over time,” it said.
In the meantime, the EPA ordered Norfolk Southern, the operator of the train, to conduct a cleanup of the chemicals from the water and soil around the train crash site. Norfolk Southern has faced a number of lawsuits after the derailment, while its CEO released a letter to East Palestine residents saying the company will stick around for the cleanup.
