EPA to require Norfolk Southern to test directly for dioxins in East Palestine

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Thursday that it will require Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins in East Palestine, Ohio, in the wake of last month’s train derailment.

The railroad company will also be required to conduct a background study comparing dioxin levels in the eastern Ohio town to those in other areas, and the EPA will continue sampling for “indicator chemicals,” the agency noted.

Dioxins are persistent environmental pollutants with “highly toxic potential,” according to the World Health Organization. 

While the EPA said on Thursday that its testing continues to suggest a “low probability” that dioxins were released from the incident, the burning of vinyl chloride — a toxic substance used in the manufacture of plastics — can create the pollutants, experts told The Associated Press. 

After the East Palestine derailment, officials conducted a controlled release and burn-off of vinyl chloride from several cars, amid concerns about a potential explosion.

Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance (R) have previously expressed concerns to the state government and the federal EPA about dioxins. 

“Over the last few weeks, I’ve sat with East Palestine residents and community leaders in their homes, businesses, churches, and schools,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Thursday in a statement. “I’ve heard their fears and concerns directly, and I’ve pledged that these experiences would inform EPA’s ongoing response efforts.”

Regan previously vowed that the agency would not “second-guess anyone’s experience” as it responded to the derailment.

In the face of heavy criticism over his administration’s response to the incident, President Biden said on Thursday that he will visit East Palestine “at some point.”

“I’ve spoken with every official in Ohio, Democrat and Republican, on a continuing basis, as in Pennsylvania,” Biden told reporters at the Capitol, adding, “We will be implementing an awful lot through the legislation here, and I will be out there at some point.”

Biden also threw his support behind a bipartisan bill that would tighten federal oversight of trains carrying hazardous materials.

“I applaud the bipartisan group of senators for proposing rail safety legislation that provides many of the solutions that my administration has been calling for,” he said Thursday in a statement.