EAST PALESTINE, OH (WLIO) - Saturday is the one year anniversary of the East Palestine train derailment, and the work continues to clean up that site.
Norfolk Southern has spent over one billion dollars to restore the site where toxic chemicals were released during the fiery derailment of 50 cars. A mechanical issue with one of the railcar axles was the cause of the derailment. Over 100,000 tons of soil and contaminated water have been removed from the site.
Recently, Norfolk Southern was the first major railroad to sign on to a new Federal Railroad Administration's program to allow engineers and conductors to report safety concerns through a hotline anonymously. The United States and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency continue to monitor the clean-up around the site.
"You look at East Palestine, we have seen some real progress over there," says Gov. Mike DeWine. "We have really focused on the cleanup. We continue to monitor the air. We continue to monitor the water and we are going to continue to do those things. We also have a clinic, that we are subsidizing, in that community, to make sure that people are taken care of if they have a medical problem."
DeWine says he supports federal railroad safety legislation introduced by Senators JD Vance and Sherrod Brown following the derailment.
