East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment
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EPA is committed to protecting the health and safety of the East Palestine, Ohio community.
EPA personnel have been on site since the onset of the train derailment, supporting local and state partners as they lead on-the-ground response efforts.
EPA Approves Workplan to Cleanup Sediment in Sulphur and Leslie Runs
EPA Approves Workplan to Cleanup Sediment in Sulphur and Leslie Runs On March 1, EPA approved the Norfolk Southern workplan to complete sediment cleanup in Sulphur and Leslie Runs. While ecological conditions in the streams are improving, assessments of the streams identified areas of oil sheening.
- Read the workplan: Sediment Mitigation Measures Work Plan -Modified (pdf) (443.2 KB) .
- Review more information on Workplan to Cleanup Sediment in Sulphur and Leslie Runs.
Latest Update: April 19, 2024
- After a pause due to operational issues and flooding, sediment cleanup resumed in Sulphur Run on April 17. Cleanup will continue as long as water flow in the creeks remains low.
- On March 25, Norfolk Southern began sediment cleanup in Sulphur Run. EPA later directed Norfolk Southern to suspend cleanup operations to evaluate how to more effectively contain and recover oil sheen from sediments. In the meantime, crews walk the streams to check if any oil sheen was agitated by high water levels and heavy rain. So far, oil sheen has not been observed following recent rain events.
- What to Expect Next Week
- Continue site-wide confirmation sampling.
- Continue shipment of untreated non-hazardous water.
- Continuing cleanup activities in Sulphur Run (weather dependent).
- Continuing tactics planning for cleanup activities in Leslie Run (weather dependent
- Read the entire update: Updates from East Palestine, April 19, 2024 (pdf) (171.6 KB)
- EPA’s Welcome Center is open by appointment only. To make an appointment, please call EPA’s information line at 330-775-6517. Questions can also be sent to r5_eastpalestine@epa.gov.
- Read the most recent monthly East Palestine newsletter, released on April 4. View previous editions of the newsletters on this webpage.
Response Videos
Background
At about 8:55 PM ET on February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, about a quarter-mile west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line.
Twenty of the affected cars contained hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol, ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl acrylate and isobutylene.
More Background InformationUnified Command:
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency
- Village of East Palestine
- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
- Norfolk Southern Corporation
Cooperating and Assisting Agencies include:
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Ohio Emergency Management Agency
- Ohio Department of Health
- Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
- Beaver County Emergency Management Agency
- Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency
- Pennsylvania Department of Health
- Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
- Ohio Department of Agriculture
- West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
Resources for Residents
Learn more about all resources available for East Palestine area residents
- EPA Information Line: 330-775-6517
- EPA Community Welcome Center in East Palestine: 25 North Market St.,
- By appointment only
- Information Repository: East Palestine Memorial Public Library, 309 N. Market Street, East Palestine, Ohio 44413.
M-Th. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fri-Sat. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.