EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Federal, state and local government officials gave an update on the Ohio train derailment cleanup and recovery process in East Palestine on Saturday afternoon.
At the press conference, the following officials were in East Palestine to give updates on what their agency is doing to help the cleanup and recovery process in East Palestine:
- Mayor, East Palestine, Ohio, Trent Conaway
- Administrator, U.S. EPA Region 5, Debra Shore
- Director, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Anne Vogel
- Director, Ohio Department of Development, Lydia Mihalik
- Administrator, FEMA Region 5, Thomas C. Sivak
- Team Lead, CDC/ATSDR, Jill Shugart
- Deputy Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, Mikel Cipollini
Expanded coverage: Ohio train derailment
The update comes just a day after President Joseph Biden ordered federal agencies to go door-to-door in East Palestine to check on families that were affected by the toxic train derailment.
According to the order from Biden, teams from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency are visiting homes in East Palestine, asking residents how they are doing and are working to connect them with the appropriate resources.
The door-knocking began on Saturday morning in the Columbiana County village.
Below is a breakdown of new information learned at the Saturday afternoon press conference.
Debra Shore Regional Administrator for EPA Region Five:
- EPA has conducted 574 home reentry screenings to date, continues air-monitoring at 15 stations within the East Palestine community
- No exceedances for residential air quality standards
- Outdoor air quality remains normal
- Waste disposal plans, including disposal location and transportation routes for contaminated waste, will be subject to federal EPA review and approval
Lydia Mahalik, Ohio Department of Development:
"A lot of information has been disseminated over the last several weeks for residents that need assistance, but we also want to make sure that our businesses are getting the help that they need. So for any business owners who have questions, or need help, please contact our team at business help@development.ohio.gov Again, that's business help@development.ohio.gov. We're here to help."
Jill Shugart, CDC:
"We have a 19 person multidisciplinary scientific team. We really are focusing on our assessment of chemical exposure survey. We are planning to do some surveys in coordination with our local state and federal partners both to get some more information from residents, businesses and also potentially impacted first responders.
Today we were able to join the on the ground teams and really got a very warm reception from the community. Again, we're happy to be here to try to learn a little bit more information about any potential health effects that may have occurred to individuals as a result of this incident.
Tomorrow we will also be working closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to conduct a another a survey to get additional information. We also are looking forward to being present on Monday at the EPA Welcome Center. We'll we'll have additional health education materials. And we'll also be staffing that with some of our scientists to help answer any questions."
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above previously aired on 3News on Feb. 24, 2023.
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