EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) – A new way to treat hazardous wastewater on-site in East Palestine will reduce the number of trucks carrying it through the village.
Norfolk Southern announced Tuesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a work plan to treat hazardous waste on-site to remove vinyl chloride and other contaminants. The treated water can then be disposed of off-site as a “non-hazardous waste.”
The train derailment site generates one million gallons of wastewater per week from excavation-related work and stormwater. This new way to handle it will reduce the number of wastewater hauling trucks at any one time, a smaller operational footprint of the site, and fewer hazardous-waste shipments running through East Palestine and other communities.
The system is temporary and meant to be on-site until soil contamination has been removed and the system is no longer needed, Norfolk said.
Contaminated soil, debris and any water used to decontaminate trucks before leaving the site will continue to be removed for off-site treatment and disposal.