Grant: Some people have had independent soil tests done and say they found numerous chemicals that could be tied to the train derailment and fires. Not only can farmers be confident about planting, but so too can residents who are planting in their backyards and gardens and so forth. They’re proceeding with their planting and harvesting. Shore: The farmers that we’ve been talking to, and indeed those I met with last week, are deeply relieved. Grant: What are you hearing from people about these findings that neither the soil nor the plants are showing contamination levels of concern? Therefore, they also concluded it was highly unlikely that anything would have occurred farther away. Shore: I’m happy to report that they didn’t find reportable levels of what are called semi-volatile organic compounds in a radius close to where the burns occurred and where the soot was deposited. They collected and tested from locations closest to the derailment site because those were considered most likely to have been contaminated. These were from agricultural sites in the East Palestine area. Shore: They took samples from plant tissue from winter wheat, pasture grasses, malting barley and forage covers, which were among the most common plants that were of concern to the farmers. Grant: What kind of plants did they test? Shore: So, Ohio State University also conducted a tissue sampling and testing effort to test a variety of plant material. Grant: And can you talk about the testing of plant tissue? Shore: There were no elevated levels revealed from the rigorous testing of dioxins or furans or other semi-volatile organic compounds. Grant: And what did those soil tests find? Shore: All of those, and principally about dioxins. Grant: And what chemicals have farmers been worried about? Dioxins, volatile organic compounds?
That’s a form of validating the results and ensuring that it’s scientifically sound. Some of them were called split samples, so the same sample was divided in two and sent to two different labs. Shore: EPA oversaw a comprehensive soil sampling and testing effort conducted by Norfolk Southern, but overseen by EPA, that endeavored to take soil samples from farms both in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Can you talk about how this has been addressed? Grant: So it sounds like there were concerns about the safety of plants and also about the soils. Farmers were worried, ‘Can I plant this season?,’ because the derailment happened before the advent of planting season and there were some concerns that plants growing might take up any contaminants in their plant tissue. Other people, residents, were concerned about their backyards and some about their businesses. Julie Grant: What are you hearing from farmers now?ĭebra Shore: We had been hearing from farmers and farm bureaus of concerns that the plume of smoke from the vent and burn and from the fire caused by the original derailment might have deposited harmful chemicals or hazardous constituents on farmland. The Allegheny Front’s Julie spoke with US EPA Regional Administrator Debra Shore, who visited farms in the East Palestine area and nearby Pennsylvania this month. Now, more than four months later, regulators have overseen testing of the soil and plants in the region. “That’s the information that we’d love to hear from them.” “ What and how much? And what are the implications of that?” Anderson asked at the time. He had questions about which chemicals were in the plume of smoke. In February, soon after the chemical explosion, farmer Dave Anderson of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, who lives about 4 miles from the derailment site, was worried about his cows and other animals. Environmental Protection Agency visited farms in East Palestine and nearby Pennsylvania last week.
DeWine says FEMA has indicated that the derailment would not qualify for that kind of aid, but he submitted a letter this week asking again that the agency give the state additional time to assess the impacts of the incident and request assistance.
Such a declaration would provide resources, including financial assistance. They traveled to Columbus this week, calling on Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to request that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declare an emergency in their region before a July 3rd deadline to do so. In East Palestine, OH, some residents are still recovering from the February train derailment and chemical fires.
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