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Jun 06, 2023

Unlikely or unknown: EPA’s stance on fishkill unclear

Aug 19, 2023 EAST PALESTINE — During an informational session held at the East Palestine Community Center, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seemingly walked back its initial explanation of

Aug 19, 2023

EAST PALESTINE — During an informational session held at the East Palestine Community Center, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seemingly walked back its initial explanation of the fishkill incident that occurred last week in Leslie Run which was filmed by East Palestine resident Randy Dehaven and posted to social media Aug. 7. The video appears to show a thick layer of sheen on the surface of Leslie Run and several dead fish in an area that was being contained by a silt fence.

During the info session, residents questioned EPA response coordinator Mark Durno about the EPA’s stance that the Park Avenue bridge project was responsibility for the event, telling residents the agency does not know what killed the fish.

“Read my quotes,” Durno said. “My quotes said ‘we don’t know.'”

While the EPA did not say that the fishkill was categorically unrelated to the derailment, the emailed responses from both the state and federal EPA said a connection was “unlikely.”

The Region 5 EPA did say in an Aug. 8 email that “the cause of the impact was unknown” but added that “there were no chemical or

petroleum-related smells, other than typical creek odors” and that the “EPA did not see the material yesterday and cannot confirm if other odors may have been present.” In an emailed reply Aug. 15 to follow-up questions, the Region 5 EPA confirmed investigation into the fishkill did not include any water sampling in the portion Leslie Run where the fish were found.

“It appears that an accidental release of road material (concrete, etc.) from the East Palestine Park bridge replacement project was the driver for the aquatic life impacts in a small portion of Leslie Run,” Region 5 EPA said in the email. “The bridge replacement project is not part of the train derailment cleanup process. EPA has not taken any samples from the accidental release from the park bridge replacement that is not part of the East Palestine train derailment response.”

The agency directed further questions concerning the bridge replacement project to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) as ODOT is in charge of that project.

When asked if work on the bridge could have disturbed a pocket of chemicals related to the derailment and thus led to the incident, the EPA replied that it was possible that some contaminated sediment may have been dislodged but did not specify if the hypothetical dislodgement could have been responsible for the fishkill.

As for the thick sheen that appears in the video, Durno said during the informational meeting that by the time he was made aware of the situation, there was nothing to see.

“I would have loved to see that when the sheen was present,” he said. “I went down there the next day immediately when I learned about it, and all that was left was scum and debris.”

In its initial response to the fishkill Aug. 8, the Ohio EPA said “the floating material is not an oil sheen” but rather “scum, debris, and other natural material” and doubled down on the data that the agency says indicates “no contamination downstream from the train derailment site.”

In a follow-up email, the Ohio EPA offered another possible explanation to the sheen that the agency said may not be from the derailment, while acknowledging the agency too has seen the sheen that still concerns residents six months after the derailment.

“Different types of bacteria colonies can resemble an oil sheen. When sediments are disturbed, particularly in the upper portion of Leslie Run near Sulphur Run, we have observed sheen,” an email said on Aug. 11.

In fact, the sheen has been well-documented by both EPAs and the third-party contractors hired by Norfolk Southern to do remediation work in the creeks.

Last month, the EPA explained a sheen-scoring process the agency and contractors conducted on the waterways. The process involved turning over rocks and kicking up the creek bed and then grading the sheen uncovered on a scale of 0-3 — 0 being no sheen visible and 3 being heavy sheen.

The sheen-scoring was further detailed in the EPA-approved Sulphur Run Characterization Work Plan last month. The plan, authored by Norfolk Southern contractor Arcadis, was to determine the extent of sediment contamination in Sulphur Run and determine whether Sulphur Run is serving as an ongoing point-source for contaminants of potential concern to Leslie Run and bodies of water downstream. Acradis noted in that plan that “there were no areas within Sulphur Run scored as 0.” All were graded 2 or 3.

Despite being able to produce sheen in the creeks by disturbing the sediments, the Ohio EPA said the sheen is not enough to warrant booms which are used to “capture larger amounts of contamination.”

“Although disturbance of the sediment can cause isolated pockets of sheen, at this time we are not seeing a sheen that merits the placement of booms,” the Ohio EPA said. “We are continuing to monitor the location and if conditions change, we will respond appropriately.”

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