Pennsylvania to continue testing drinking water near East Palestine train derailment site for 10 years
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pennsylvania will continue to test drinking water near the East Palestine train derailment site for the next 10 years, the Shapiro administration announced on Tuesday.
While no contamination related to the train derailment has been found so far, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says it will continue to sample private drinking water wells within a one-mile radius of the site over the next decade.
The DEP said funding for the work is included in a proposed federal consent decree between the Environmental Protection Agency and Norfolk Southern. The DEP will also oversee Norfolk Southern's testing of three groundwater monitoring wells in Pennsylvania.
"We're following through on our commitment to keep a strong DEP presence in Western Pennsylvania for at least the next ten years with independent testing for private drinking water wells to ensure there continue to be no long-term impacts from this disaster," Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a press release. "My Administration will continue to work with our federal and local partners to support the people impacted by the derailment for as long as it is needed."
A Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials like vinyl chloride derailed on Feb. 3, 2023, less than a mile from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. After the crash, a fire burned for days and officials, fearing an explosion, blew open the cars, releasing a massive plume of thick black smoke.
The Shapiro administration is also pushing Norfolk Southern for more expansive testing and for monitoring provisions to expand beyond two miles from the derailment site. State leaders also want the railroad to pay for health treatment costs for those impacted and to adopt all recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board's final report.
