PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The federal environmental authorities said Sunday shipments of contaminated waste will resume to two approved sites in Ohio Monday.
They say some liquid waste will be taken to an underground injection well in Vicker and solid waste will go to an incinerator in East Liverpool.
This decision came just one day after the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Norfolk Southern to come to a temporary halt in shipments from where the East Palestine train derailed near the Pennsylvania state line on Feb. 3. They did this to gain more information on where waste was being shipped.
They say some liquid and solid waste had been taken to sites in Michigan and Texas and that EPA-certified facilities were able to accept some of the waste that had been identified, meaning shipments could restart.
EPA Director Anne Vogel said all of the rail cars, except for the 11 held by the National Transportation Safety Board, have been removed from the site.
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“This has been so critically important to move on to the next steps,” Vogel said. “We can now excavate additional contaminated soil and begin installing monitoring wells."
Those wells, she says, will allow them to see if there's any contamination in the groundwater.
As of Saturday, state officials said there were still about 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste in storage ready to be taken away. That doesn't include the additional waste that will come up as the cleanup process continues.
EPA Region 5 administrator Debra Shore said they have been evaluating facilities that will be receiving waste from the cleanup and that they have to be given the "OK" by the EPA to accept the contaminated waste.
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"We know it's far better to have it safely stored in a properly instructed and monitored disposal facility than remain here any longer than necessary,” Shore said.
No one was injured when the Norfolk Southern cars derailed, but people who live nearby have voiced concerns about air quality and overexposure to toxic chemicals.
Shore said that, as of Sunday, the outdoor air quality around where the crash happened is being reported as "normal" and that it's safe for people who evacuated to come back.