EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an update Wednesday on the air and water testing in East Palestine following the train derailment there.
Following the announcement last week that municipal water is safe to drink, Ohio EPA will continue to test it once a week to ensure that the water source remains clean.
Private well sampling has been done on 74 wells in the area. Final results are pending. Well owners are encouraged to drink bottled water until those test results come back.
To schedule testing for your private well, call 330-849-3919.
The U.S. EPA has tested the air in 560 homes and found no contaminants associated with the derailment. Those living in East Palestine who have not yet requested free air sampling can call 330-849-3919. Outdoor air monitoring is ongoing with 20 air monitors in the area. None detected contaminants associated with the derailment.
The surface water cleanup is ongoing on a section of Sulphur Run near the derailment site. It is dammed to the east and west to prevent contamination of other water bodies Clean creek water at the eastern end continues to be funneled away from the contaminated area and then released back into the run at the western dam.
Aeration continues at Sulphur Run to drive chemicals to the water’s surface, which are then extracted. More than 1.6 million gallons of contaminants and contaminated water associated with the derailment have been removed from the area.
DeWine said Leslie Run continues to improve. A Feb. 15 sample showed “very low” levels of two contaminants: butyl acrylate and ethyl hexyl acrylate. Tests from North Fork Little Beaver Creek show much lower levels of ethyl hexyl acrylate and no traces of butyl acrylate.
No vinyl chloride has been detected in any of these waterways.
The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission is no longer detecting contaminates related to the derailment in the Ohio River.
There have been about 4,588 cubic yards of contaminated soil removed from the immediate area of the derailment.
