Giant Eagle Pulls Some Water Bottled Near East Palestine After Train Derailment

The Company Says Move Being Done 'out of an Abundance of Caution'

Plastic bottles of mineral water are seen on an assembly line in Al-Junaidi mineral water factory in the West Bank city of Hebron, on Feb. 5, 2020. Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images

Grocery chain Giant Eagle has removed some store-branded spring water off the shelves in repose to the train derailment earlier this month out of an abundance of caution.

The Pittsburgh-based company said it stopped selling Giant Eagle-branded water sourced from a facility in Salineville, situated about 25 miles southwest of the derailment site, according to a Tuesday statement to media outlets. The plant only supplied spring water in gallon-size or larger containers to its Giant Eagle, Market District, and GetGo stores, the company said.

The regional grocer’s announcement came more than two weeks after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, after which local authorities conducted a “controlled burn” to avoid a potential explosion.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said several chemicals compounds were detected at the site—including vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, isobutylene, and butyl acrylate—spurring concerns about potential environmental and human health risks.

Giant Eagle noted the water in these products was sourced from “a protected spring located at a higher elevation than East Palestine and is not near groundwater sources directly impacted by the incident.”

Testings of raw materials and end products conducted by a third-party lab have “not found any evidence that the water has been negatively impacted by the Feb. 3 incident,” Giant Eagle said.

But the company decided not to take chances.

“Out of an abundance of caution, Giant Eagle has made the decision to remove all gallon-or-greater-sized Giant Eagle-brand spring water product sourced from the Salineville facility from our store shelves until further notice while we continue to evaluate ongoing testing and potential impacts to the spring source.”

An environmental company is removing dead fish downstream from the site of the train derailment that forced people to be evacuated from their homes in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 6, 2023. Alan Freed/Reuters

Concerns About Drinking Water

The grocery’s move came a week after the City of Cincinnati utility announced it would close down the Ohio river intake and switch to water reserves “out of an abundance of caution.” The Greater Cincinnati Water Works said in a separate statement that water sample testing showed “no detectable levels of the chemicals” connected to the derailment and the controlled burn.

Following Cincinnati’s move, the Northern Kentucky Water District said it closed off that source as a precautionary measure.

Ohio officials said they hadn’t found any indications that public water in East Palestine is unsafe, though they still urged residents using private wells near the derailment site to drink only bottled water.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) walks to a closed-door, classified briefing for Senators at U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Feb. 14, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

However, some residents and senators representing the state remain skeptical.

Ohio state Sen. Michael Rulli, a Republican, warned residents within 10 miles of the derailment not to drink the local water or bathe in it, telling Breitbart that it isn’t safe to do so. Rulli, whose district covers East Palestine, said that there are concerns about “cancer in the next five, 10, 15, 20 years,” among residents in close proximity to the derailment site.

“So what I’m suggesting is that everyone goes as far away as you can and get a hotel room,” Rulli said. The senator added that he experienced a “sore throat for the rest of the day” every time he visited East Palestine since the derailment.

Residents of East Palestine also reported they experienced health issues such as headaches and sore throats.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) challenged the state’s officials to drink the water if they believe it’s safe. “I think that if the EPA administrator wants to stand here and tell people that the tap water is safe, by all means, they should be willing to drink it,” Vance said.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan (left) walks with his staff through East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2023. Lucy Schaly/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

On Tuesday, EPA administrator Michael Regan, Gov. Mike DeWine, and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) made a show of drinking tap water as they visited villagers’ homes in East Palestine in an attempt to assure skeptical residents that drinking water is safe for consumption.

“It’s pretty good water,” said Regan.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.