EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) – The railroad company responsible for a massive train derailment in East Palestine has released its work plan to clean up and repair the area.
Arcadis U.S. Inc. sent a letter to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of Norfolk Southern Railway Company.
The letter outlines the efforts it is taking to remediate the site. It comes after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Norfolk Southern notifying the company of possible liability and necessary “cleanup actions to protect the public health, welfare, or the environment.”
The letter from Arcadis states that Norfolk’s response crews continue operations to stop, contain and recover the releases of hazardous chemicals onboard the derailed cars.
The letter lists several actions that have been taken and completed already:
- Controlled venting and burning/flaring of vinyl chloride
- Transfer of liquids contained in equipment and cars and collection of these liquids for disposal
- Collection of pooled liquids from the ground surface via vacuum truck
- Rerouting of surface water flow through Sulphur Run to bypass the derailment location
- Construction of underflow dams along surface water bodies to control and collect floating separate-phase liquids
- Construction of an interceptor trench to collect separate-phase liquids before reaching Sulphur Run
- Aeration of surface water bodies to promote volatilization and biodegradation of released constituents
- Surface water sampling
- Air quality monitoring
- Soil sampling
- Waste characterization sampling
- Residential water well surveys and sampling
It goes on to detail proposed additional work saying, “the exact scope and timeline which activities will be conducted is uncertain and will be dependent upon receipt and interpretation of further characterization data, access to properties, and other constraints.”
The letter states that some of the work still to be done includes soil sampling, characterization of groundwater impacts and remedial action and objectives.
The timeline for the work depends heavily on the results of ongoing site restoration and characterization.
It’s anticipated that soil sampling, which will guide future soil removal activities, will begin in the next several days, and groundwater characterization will begin either concurrent with or following soil removal, according to the letter.
You can read the full letter below.
