EPA: Flood leads to fishkill and pause in cleanup efforts

Sheen collection methods questioned

EAST PALESTINE -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported on Friday evening that dead fish were observed by a response team conducting remediation work in Sulphur Run in the wake of last year's Norfolk Southern train derailment. According to an emailed statement, deceased fish were found during routine monitoring of the stream and an investigation was "immediately initiated".

The EPA said the Ohio Division of Natural Resources (ODNR) was notified and an officer from the Division of Wildlife was on scene to investigate.

The agency pointed to flooding of State Line Lake -- an 11-acre body of water that is located on East Taggart in Beaver County and flows through the wetlands just north of the derailment site -- as the catalyst.

"Approximately 4.2 inches of rain fell onto the site from March 26 through April 3, leading to areal flooding north of the site. This flooding led to a direct surface connection of State Line Lake with the site's freshwater bypass pond," the statement explained. "This connection led to a migration of fish from State Line Lake into the pond, where they were pulled into the bypass pump intakes. The deceased fish then traveled through the bypass pipe and into Sulphur Run immediately downstream from the site. The exact number of fish is still being determined."

The clean water bypass system directs upstream water to a containment pond. The collected water is then pumped into pipes that bypass the derailment site and discharge the water downstream. The system was meant to prevent wetland water from coming into contact with contaminated soil at the site.

In October, the EPA and Norfolk Southern announced all contaminated soil had been removed from the area. The EPA later announced on March 1 plans were being made to return natural water flow back into Sulphur Run from the upstream wetlands. The agency reports that work, which will continue for months, is underway and that "natural flow was restored from the first of the nine areas" on Wednesday. It is unclear where that area was located, but the agency said before water from the wetlands and derailment zone will be returned into the creek, the north and south ditches alongside the tracks and adjacent areas will be sampled starting at the western-most end of the derailment site.

"Robust testing under EPA and Ohio EPA guidance, oversight, and approval will ensure the soil around and within the ditches have no remaining contamination," the EPA stated on its derailment website.

Nine areas in total will be tested on an area-by-area basis until the natural flow of water is restored in its entirety. Water sampling in Sulphur and Leslie Runs will continue throughout the process.

The EPA stressed that water currently contained in the blue tanks on North Pleasant Drive will not be reintroduced. The tanks hold collected rainwater and snowmelt from the derailment site. Site rainwater and snowmelt will continue to be collected and disposed of. Previously, that water had to undergo treatment at the Norfolk Southern Wastewater Treatment Facility (that was built last year and began operations in September) or be disposed of as "hazardous waste" at EPA-licensed facilities. On March 22, the EPA reported that since all contaminated soil had been removed from the site and testing of the runoff shows no presence of vinyl chloride or other hazardous materials, the water could be shipped off-site as "non-hazardous" wastewater. With the wastewater now considered "non-hazardous" operations at the railroad's on-site treatment plant have been reduced to sediment-filtering capabilities only.

While the EPA insists "this change reflects the success of the cleanup", surface water remediation has proven to be a challenge.

On March 25, sediment cleanup began in Sulphur Run as part of the "Sediment Mitigation Measures Work Plan – Modified" to address findings following an order to investigate sheen in both Leslie and Sulphur Runs. That order was made in October under the EPA's Clean Water Act authority and came after residents continued to record and document visible contamination in the waterways.

However, the cleanup, which involved stirring up the sediment and capturing any sheen brought to the surface, was suspended last week. According to the EPA, the process was put on hold until collection methods of the sheen are reassessed and evaluated "how to more effectively contain and recover sheen from sediments."

While the EPA did not specify what initiated the suspension of cleanup in Sulphur Run on the day it began, area resident Randy Dehaven and photojournalistcaptured video of what appeared to be heavy sheen flowing downstream. In the video, sheen can be seen passing the soft and hard booms and turbidity curtains meant to contain it as contractors work upstream, and an exchange between Dehaven and a worker can be heard.

"I thought you were supposed to be containing the oil," Dehaven says. "I thought you were supposed to contain all this."

The worker responds "we're trying" before Dehaven informs him the sheen is making its way downstream and a new approach should be taken.

The video wasn't the first captured by Dehaven that seemingly led to EPA action. In August, Dehaven recorded and posted a video that showed a thick layer of contamination on the surface of Leslie Run and several dead fish in an area that was being contained by a silt fence - a temporary sediment control device often used on construction sites to protect water quality. The video led to an investigation by the Ohio EPA, U.S. EPA and Ohio Division of Wildlife after the EPA was provided with a link to Dehaven's video. The investigation later determined that the fishkill was likely caused by an accidental release of road material from the East Palestine Park bridge replacement and not the train derailment. When asked if the bridge-replacement project or the sampling activities in the underground portions of Sulphur Run which began days before the fishkill could have disturbed a pocket of chemicals related to the derailment, the EPA said that was improbable but stopped short of saying it was impossible. While the EPA concluded the bridge replacement was the plausible cause, a definite conclusion was never reached nor were any sediment or water samples taken at the site the fishkill.

The ODNR has continued to monitor the rivers and streams for any long-term consequences on aquatic species and, so far, its investigation has found no significant impacts. However, an early investigation did confirm that the derailment and related events killed 43,701 wild animals, including small fish, crayfish, amphibians, and macroinvertebrates, worth an estimated $15,000 in wildlife restitution.

As for the latest fishkill, the EPA said it is continuing to work alongside the ODNR to assess the situation. The EPA also anticipates that as flood waters reside, no more fish will be pulled into the intakes. It is, however, considering putting controls in place to prevent a similar event in the future.

While the agency believes highwater is responsible for the dead fish downstream, the EPA said flooding has not appeared to have stirred up any additional sheen. The agency is hopeful that cleanup of Sulphur Run will resume this week.

"In the meantime, crews walk the streams to check if any sheen was agitated by high water levels and heavy rain. So far, sheen has not been observed following these recent rain events," the EPA stated on its website. "It's expected that stream cleaning may resume during the week of April 8 as long as water levels are not too high."

High waters also pressed pause on culvert cleaning activities. On March 28, contractors began sediment removal and cleaning in the last of five underground culverts. That culvert runs from Liberty to Rebecca Streets. "The cleaning targets specific areas where oil sheen was observed during the assessment completed in December, 2023. A high-powered vacuum hose is used to remove sediment inside the metal pipe section of the culvert," the EPA website explained. "A control point is installed at the downstream end of the work area to contain and capture any released sheen that is not captured by the vacuum operation. This is the only culvert left to be addressed as four were previously cleaned last year."

The EPA did not clarify if sheen-collection methods regarding culvert cleaning were also being reassessed.

A total of 828 locations were evaluated in Leslie and Sulphur Runs during the assessment that concluded in December and 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 while regular testing of both creeks continued.

Last month, EPA Response Coordinator Mark Durno told East Palestine Council two exceedances of "oil-related compounds" had 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."

Under EPA's Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment, benzo(a)pyrene is "carcinogenic to humans"and short-term exposure to the compound 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 to council the state and federal EPA's opinion that the "creeks are cleaning up."