SEBRING, Ohio (WKBN) – While at a press conference in Sebring Monday, WKBN 27 First News caught up with Senator Michael Rulli.

We asked him about the status of the East Palestine derailment recovery efforts.

Senator Rulli said the recovery is like a marathon. He believes this is going to be a long process.

However, he believes Governor Mike DeWine has made big steps in helping the residents feel safer.

“We have to get this soil out of the state to designated Hazmat dumping grounds, which I think we saw a couple of the governors tried to grandstand. They forget years in the past when they needed to bring things to our state. We worked with them. So, I think that was a lot of grandstanding. I think the governor really pushed through that,” Rulli said.

The rail safety committee will meet again Wednesday, March 22.