East Palestine evacuation lifted for residents, roads beginning to open around area

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – After being displaced on Monday afternoon, residents in the evacuations zone around the Norfolk Southern Railway train derailment were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday night.

In a press conference Wednesday evening, East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick announced that local agencies are lifting the evacuation order for the 1-mile area around the train derailment in East Palestine, including for about 22 people across the Pennsylvania border in Darlington Township.

Lawsuit coming:Lawsuit filed against Norfolk Southern by East Palestine residents forced to evacuate

Officials will continue to monitor air and water quality to ensure citizens' safety in the coming days, but the option for families to return to their homes is now available.

"In order to ensure that everyone's returned to their home safely and orderly, please refer to the safe return traffic plan posted on Columbia County EMA Facebook page," Drabick said. "As the incident commander, I would like to thank the community for your patience and cooperation throughout this process. Thank you to our fellow safety service partners, emergency service personnel and authorities at the local state and federal levels for your tireless work and invaluable expertise."

Eric Brewer, director of Beaver County Emergency Services, also spoke about returning residents from Darlington Township to their homes. According to Brewer, officials in Pennsylvania will reach out to all residents evacuated and continue to offer support in the coming days."For Beaver County's process, we will be reaching out to Darlington residents via our mass notification system, social media posts as well as the local media," Brewer said. "We will also be reaching out to those residents personally to see what their needs may be and getting them in the right direction."

According to a release from PennDOT, all roads in Darlington Township have reopened to traffic now that the evacuation order has been lifted. Several roadways were temporarily closed on Monday as community members were restricted from entering the area during the release of toxic vinyl chloride from the crash site.

More:Toxic chemicals released from Ohio train derailment to reduce explosion risk

Crews from Norfolk Southern Railway will temporarily close roads at several railroad crossings in East Palestine as they continue to clear debris from the area. According to Scott Deutsch, a representative for the company, railroad crossings at James Street and Pleasant Drive will be closed at certain points during the next several weeks. A larger closure will also take place along Taggart Road, from the Pennsylvania state line to the East Palestine Self Services Car Wash, as crews use heavy machinery in the area to move damaged rail cars.

Deutsch also said Norfolk Southern Railway will keep its Family Assistance Center open for the "foreseeable future," allowing for reimbursements and expenses that occurred during the evacuation. The center, located at the East Palestine Park Community Center, will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. during this period. A call center will also be available for those with questions at 234-542-6472.

During the conference, James Justice of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spoke about the air quality and the agency's recommendation to lift the evacuation. According to Justice, EPA personnel and Norfolk Southern Railway contractors have been recording air quality from "strategic locations" in the region to collect hundreds of data points. While discussing recent samples, he said that the air quality from the last 24 hours was at "normal concentrations" and "what you would find in almost any community."

Environmental impacts of the incident:Regulators monitoring air, water after East Palestine train derailment

Testing was not done inside of residents' homes, but officials from Norfolk Southern Railway are offering to conduct testing at residents' request. Families interested in having their homes sampled by the company are being asked to call 330-849-3919.

Speaking for the Ohio EPA, Kurt Koehler said materials from the derailment have entered the waterway at the Sulfur Run River and officials are currently working to minimize the effects of the contamination. According to Koehler, the detection was made through laboratory analysis of the water.

"The unfortunate side is those were immediately toxic to fish," he said. "But all the information and data to date says that it is still been protective for the drinking water, as it applies for drinking water standards. We are working closely with our partners to ensure that that is maintained throughout the incident. Containment measures and the institution of treatment measures have been in place by working with Norfolk Southern and our other partners here, like Civil Support Team."

While the levels are safe, surveys of the water are still detecting chemicals related to the spill. Koehler said water samples are currently being tested throughout the Sulfur Run River, Lesley Run River, Little Beaver Creek and the Ohio River on a daily basis. Sampling of local wells has not been conducted yet, but officials from the Ohio EPA plan to conduct this process in the future.

Officials ask that residents report any abnormalities they may see in their water supplies, as this can assist in them containing and mitigating any further issues.

"If you're seeing something, or something gets past our containment as the days go, please report it," Koehler said. "If you see a discoloration or something, stay out of it. I would avoid that."

Looking toward the future, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he hopes this response to the situation can reassure residents the matter was taken seriously and officials will work to make sure something similar doesn't happen in other communities across the nation.

"I think we expect Norfolk Southern to have answers to exactly what happened, and candidly, to explain what they're going to do to prevent that from happening here or someplace else in the future," DeWine said. "The burden is upon them to assure the public that what they do every day is safe. It would appear that we've gotten out of this without any major problems, other than great inconvenience and scaring a lot of people. But it could have been certainly a lot worse."

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: East Palestine train derailment evacuation lifted, roads opening in area