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EAST PALESTINE -- East Palestine Village Council received a detailed look at the Norfolk Southern (NS) work plan, recently approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to tackle derailment-related compounds remaining in area creeks during its regular meeting on Monday.
U.S. EPA Emergency Response Coordinator Mark Durno, Ohio EPA Water Quality Supervisor Bill Zawiski and NS Regional Manager of Environmental Operations Chris Hunsicker explained the Sediment Mitigation Measures Work Plan. The work plan, prepared by Norfolk Southern, is the course of action to be taken following a qualitative assessment of visible sheen in both Leslie and Sulphur Runs. That assessment was ordered under the EPA agency's Clean Water Act authority on Oct. 18. The sheen has been a concern of residents since the derailment and chemical release over a year ago.
According to Durno, 828 locations were evaluated during the process, which assigned any visible sheen a score -- no sheen (0), light sheen (1), medium sheen (2) and heavy sheen (3). Crews also collected samples of sheens and associated sediments to determine their chemical makeup. To date, 25 percent of those results have been reviewed by the EPA.
Hunsicker said the remediation work under the plan began on Monday and may take up to seven weeks. Once clean-up efforts, which will include sediment washing and air-knifing as well as the use of soft booms, hard booms, turbidity curtains and vacuum trucks, are complete, another assessment will be conducted to ensure all contamination has been captured and removed. If additional contamination is found, the process will be completed. The work plan states that removal work will be deemed complete when three field conditions are met. Those conditions are "no sheen observed in Sulphur Run and Leslie Run, attainment of surface water quality designated by the Ohio EPA and when exceedances of human health screening levels for oil and hazardous substances have been mitigated such that the contamination no longer presents a substantial threat to public health and welfare."
Durno said that two exceedances of "oil-related compounds" have recently occurred. Durno said both were benzo(a)pyrene which were "slightly above screening levels." The locations of the exceedances was a portion of Sulphur Run near Rebecca Street and in Leslie Run near the village's water treatment plant.
Benzo(a)pyrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), was also identified in an a previous EPA's report -- submitted to President Biden in October to comply with a presidential order to determine if a declaration of disaster is warranted -- as the only compound found in the streams that "was in exceedance of the human health screen levels." Up to June 12, 28 exceedances of benzo(a)Pyrene were reported.
Under EPA's Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment, benzo(a)pyrene is "carcinogenic to humans" based on strong and consistent evidence in animals and humans. According to an EPA fact sheet on the compound, short-term benzo(a)pyrene exposure can "potentially cause red blood cell damage, leading to anemia and a suppressed immune system" while lifetime exposure has "the potential to cause developmental and reproductive effects and cancer."
Despite the two exceedances of benzo(a)pyrene, Durno reiterated the state and federal EPA's opinion that the "creeks are cleaning up."
Region 5 EPA Administrator Debra Shore was in the village on Monday and spoke to local media earlier in the day.
"The one remaining area (of concern) is the oil sheen that we detected in Leslie and Sulphur Runs which are being worked on," Shore said. "People shouldn't be going into the streams. They are posted 'keep out.' People should respect that and let us do the work and we will notify them we got it all."
In other matters, council approved several pieces of legislation, including the temporary employment of Traci Spratt. Spratt was the long-time finance director and served as the interim village manager after Mark McTrustry resigned in October of 2022 and until Chad Ewards was hired in October of 2023. Her temporary employment is meant to help the village navigate through the recovery in the wake of the rail disaster. Lenny Glavan and Tim Blythe, both elected to council in November, were the only two councilmembers to oppose Spratt's hiring. The resolution was passed as an emergency.
Council also approved an ordinance to make modifications to the Teamsters contract, hire MS Consultants Design Services and amend tax valuation for the street levy renewal. All three were also passed as emergencies.
In other matters, a motion to make admission to the city pool free for active military members and veterans was approved. It was also announced that lifeguard training as well as $500 sign-on bonus would be paid for Norfolk Southern.
Water Superintendent Scott Wolfe reported that the carbon filter project was nearing completion. The system should be online within the next six weeks. The carbon filters, bought by Norfolk Southern and manufactured by Calgon, are precautionary protection for the municipal water supply. Council first announced plans to install the carbon-filtration system in the months following the derailment. At that meeting, Wolfe said that carbon filters were the direction the village was headed before the derailment and stressed the filters, which comply with the new federal per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) guidelines, were a proactive approach taken by the village. No derailment-related contamination has been detected in the water supply.
selverd@mojonews.com