The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday officially ordered rail company Norfolk Southern to clean up after one of their trains derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, spilling hazardous chemicals into the environment.
In a legally binding order, the EPA instructed Norfolk Southern to "conduct all necessary actions" to clean up contaminated soil and water resources. The company has also been told to reimburse the EPA cleaning services to be offered to local residents and businesses; to attend and participate in public meetings at EPA's request and post information online; and pay for EPA's accumulated costs for work performed under this order.
The agency will release a workplan outlining all necessary steps to clean up the environmental damage caused by the wreck. Norfolk Souther must comply with the EPA's directions or face fines as high as triple the cost of cleanup.
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"The Norfolk Southern train derailment has upended the lives of East Palestine families, and EPA’s order will ensure the company is held accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of this community," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
"Let me be clear: Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess they created and for the trauma they’ve inflicted on this community," he added.
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Until this point, Norfolk Southern has been voluntarily assisting with cleanup efforts. The company said Monday that about 15,000 pounds of contaminated soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water have been excavated from the site where the train derailed on Feb. 3.
Dozens of rail cars, including 11 carrying toxic chemicals, derailed as the train passed through the town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Officials conducted a controlled release of vinyl chloride three days after the derailment to avoid an explosion.
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Norfolk Southern said that a "majority" of the hazardous rail cars have been decontaminated, but they'll stay on the scene until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation.
EPA personnel were at the scene of the accident by 2 a.m. on Feb. 4 to assist with air monitoring. Since then, the agency has conducted more than 550 indoor air tests at homes and has not detected toxic vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride at levels of concern. The EPA said it remains on site in East Palestine to provide screening to residents within the evacuation zone.
Fox News' Paul Best contributed to this report.
