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EAST PALESTINE -- A video that was posted to Youtube Monday that shows what looks like gross contamination and dead fish in a portion Leslie Run spurred an investigation by both the state and federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Tuesday.
All three agencies confirmed the fish kill and poor condition of the water, but the Region 5 EPA called the contamination "scum, debris and biological matter" and unlikely to be related to February's Norfolk Southern train derailment. Instead, the EPA pointed to the current construction project of replacing the bridge at the entrance of the city park about 30 feet upstream as the more probable culprit.
"The EPA was made aware of this area, viewed the video, and visited the site this morning to evaluate," U.S. EPA Public Information Officer John Brakeall said in an email. "As of today, the floating material is not sheen. It is scum, debris and biological material, likely generated from the tear down of the nearby bridge that enters into East Palestine Park. "
The federal EPA went on to say a silt fence was holding the material back and confirmed that aquatic life has been impacted. However, the email said "the cause of the impact is unknown" and no derailment-related chemicals were suspected to be present.
"There were no chemical or petroleum-related smells, other than typical creek odors," Brakeall said. "EPA did not see the material yesterday and cannot confirm if other odors may have been present. EPA has followed up with the Ohio EPA and Ohio DNR to further evaluate the situation."
The Ohio EPA echoed the federal EPA's assessment with a statement provided by Anthony Chenault, media coordinator of Central, Northeast and Southeast Districts of the Ohio EPA.
"It is unlikely that this incident is related to the train derailment or cleanup activities," the statement read. "The latest testing results in Leslie Run show no contamination downstream from the train derailment site. Ohio EPA remains on scene, working closely with ODOT and ODNR to monitor the situation."
Andy Chow, ODNR spokesperson, said his agency was made aware of a fishkill in Leslie Run early Tuesday, adding that the Division of Wildlife and the Ohio EPA are on scene investigating.
According to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's office, ODNR has been monitoring the local waterways since the train derailment. An ODNR investigation did find that 43,701 wild animals were killed by the derailment with the number of wildlife lost totaling more than $15,000 in wildlife restitution. Since that investigation, DeWine reported that the ODNR has continued to monitor the rivers and streams for any long-term consequences on aquatic wildlife species and has not discovered any significant impacts.
On Tuesday, the federal EPA expressed encouragement in the improving conditions of Leslie and Sulphur Runs but conceded that contamination remains in the surface water in and around East Palestine.
"Surface water results have been encouraging the past several months. However, there are still contaminants present in sediment, particularly in Sulphur Run," the agency said. "The Sulphur Run characterization sampling was recently completed. The Leslie Run characterization sampling is just getting started. EPA will evaluate the sample results and provide feedback to the public when it is available."