Experts: Ohio creek still contaminated after train derailment
- Independent testing has shown results at odds with EPA results
- One expert showed how stirring up sediment could bring up chemicals
- Testing at an EPA-approved lab showed elevated levels of chemicals
A warning sign is posted near a stream in East Palestine Park in East Palestine, Ohio on Thursday, June 22, 2023. An investigative hearing is being held by the National Transportation and Safety Board in East Palestine over two days, to investigate the Feb. 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment and subsequent hazardous material release and fires. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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(NewsNation) — Months after a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, resulting in a controlled explosion and open burn of tanker cars carrying carcinogenic chemicals, residents are still worried about contamination in the water. The Environmental Protection Agency says it’s safe to return, but independent testing results have offered conflicting results.
In February, two weeks after the derailment and open burn, the chemicals in the creeks were visible to the naked eye.
Simply sticking a stick in the water would cause chemicals to come to the surface in a rainbow of color.
In March, NewsNation met up with an independent testing expert who tested the waters around East Palestine.
“We found carcinogens in the water, carcinogens the Ohio EPA is not finding,” said Justin Johnston of Big Pine Consulting.
Despite the EPA cleanup and the months that have passed since the disaster, Leslie Run, the main creek in town, appears to still be loaded with chemicals.
Dr. Rick Tsai made it a point to document the chemicals on video, showing them coming out of the banks of the creek.
“The EPA says there is no visible contamination in Leslie Run,” Tsai said.
On Aug. 27, 2023, he took video showing dozens and dozens of dead, yellow fish.
In response to the fish kill, the EPA said, “It is scum, debris and biological matter likely generated from the tear-down of the nearby bridge.”
The Ohio EPA said “it is unlikely that this incident is related to the train derailment or cleanup activities,” and, “The latest testing results in Leslie Run show no contamination downstream from the train derailment site.”
Tsai invited NewsNation along to see, suiting up into protective gear and wading into the creek.
When the sediment was stirred up, the sheen of chemicals rose to the surface, visible even on an overcast day.
“That’s all in the sediment,” Tsai said. “And it’s going deeper and deeper.”
When asked about contamination in Leslie Run, the EPA told NewsNation the agency has never said the creek was free of chemicals and that surface water sampling has been at safe levels for some time.
“Areas of the creeks that are most impacted are still posted with ‘keep out’ signs. U.S. EPA has never stated that Leslie Run is free of chemical compounds,” the statement read. “Some of the sediments in Leslie run can produce a hydrocarbon sheen when agitated. The impact of sediment contamination is being evaluated. “
Tsai bottled some of the water himself and had it tested at an EPA-certified lab. It showed elevated levels of isopropoyl benzene and methylcyclohexane.
“If I can send a seven-year-old into that creek with a stick and he can find that, how can the EPA with their millions of dollars not poke around and fine chemicals in Leslie Run? It astounds me and it angers me,” Tsai said. “We’re being lied to and I don’t know why.”
