Newsletter: East Palestine Train Derailment Response, 4-11-2023

Newsletter serving Serving East Palestine, Negley, Darlington, and surrounding communities

• Progress Made
• The Week Ahead
• Community Corner
• Did You Know?
• Top 3 Questions of the Week
• By the Numbers

Progress Made

South Track Excavation

The excavation of the south track is nearing completion and soil waste is continuing to be shipped off-site for disposal. After the south track excavation finishes and the track is reconstructed, the excavation can begin on the north track. Planning is currently underway for the north track excavation.

The Week Ahead

At the Derailment Site

• Continued heavy truck traffic along designated routes.
• Taggart Street remains closed to the public.
• Excavation work and backfilling on the south track will near completion.
• Excavated soil and collected wastewater will continue to be shipped off-site.

In the Greater Community

• EPA’s Community Welcome Center remains open to the public from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. EPA staff are available to answer questions and address concerns.
• Air monitoring will continue at 23 locations around the community.
• EPA’s Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) mobile laboratory will continue to monitor air.
• Under the direction of EPA’s unilateral order to Norfolk Southern, additional soil sampling will take place next week in Pennsylvania. This sampling will include agricultural, residential, and state game areas.

Community Corner

East Liverpool City Hospital, in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Health, is excited to announce the opening of a permanent health clinic in East Palestine on Monday, April 10. The new clinic will provide traditional comprehensive primary care with healthcare staff that will be able to evaluate and treat acute illnesses, as well as focus on health maintenance and preventive care, write prescriptions, provide lab testing, and schedule consultations with specialists where appropriate. Physicians, registered nurses, and mental health specialists will be on hand to treat the community’s needs. Gretchen Nickell, DO will serve as the medical director of the clinic. Dr. Nickell was recently recognized by East Liverpool City Hospital as a community leader who “works and leads others every day with dedication, kindness, and respect.”

The East Palestine Clinic is located at 139 North Walnut. The clinic will operate
Monday-Friday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. by appointment only. The clinic can be contacted by
calling 330-383-6020 or visiting their website.

Did You Know?

Groundwater flows underground...at different rates

The direction and speed that groundwater moves is determined by the surrounding geology of aquifers. An aquifer is underground porous rock that contains groundwater. If the rock formation allows water to move freely through it, then groundwater can move quickly in a short period of time. But, groundwater may move slowly and sink deeper, taking thousands of years to move back into the environment.

Why is this important to know?

There has been a lot of interest in the connection between surface water, groundwater, and drinking water after the train derailment. As the arrows on the diagram show, groundwater typically flows towards rivers. It is not as common for water from rivers to flow into aquifers.

In East Palestine, existing groundwater maps and onsite monitoring wells will continue to be used to confirm that drinking water is not impacted. If a drinking water well is upgradient (or at a higher elevation) from the work site, that well is less likely to be impacted. For wells that are downgradient (or at a lower elevation) from the derailment site, that well is monitored and tested.

Top 3 Questions of the Week