Norfolk Southern says it reaches milestone in East Palestine cleanup
By Paul Van Osdol
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EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WTAE) — Norfolk Southern said it has reached a milestone in the cleanup of East Palestine: the removal of contaminated soil beneath and between the railroad tracks where the February derailment occurred.
The railroad said it has removed more than 73,000 tons of soil and 20 million gallons of water from the site.
“We promised to listen to residents and support East Palestine for the long haul. Fully cleaning up both tracks shows that we are keeping our promises,” Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement.
But William Hugar, who lives next to the derailment site, said he worries the railroad did not dig up enough toxic soil.
“I don’t think they went deep enough. I think they should test that deeper,” Hugar said. “They took a long time to finally get to it. Between that time was all the rain, and it just goes right into the ground.”
Norfolk Southern environmental manager Chris Hunsicker said the company dug as deep as necessary to reach all contaminated soil. “We’re not actually digging to a depth, we’re digging to a quality situation. When our sampling data indicate that we’ve achieved our goal, that’s when we stop digging,” Hunsicker said.
Up to 80 truckloads of soil and water are being taken from the site daily. In the next phase of the cleanup, Norfolk Southern will remove soil from areas on either side of the tracks.
“We’re taking our time because we want to be thorough and make sure we’re getting things out of here. We also want to be very safe. We want to make sure our activities, our cleanup efforts don’t affect or impact the village or the community,” Hunsicker said.
Hugar said he and other neighbors have already been impacted.
“Everyone’s got vinyl chloride in their urine,” Hugar said. “What’s it going to do to my body down the road?”
Norfolk Southern said it hopes to finish soil removal by August, but more work will need to be done after that before East Palestine returns to normal.
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