Shapiro announces water near train derailment site will be tested for 10 years

HARRISBURG, Pa., (WKBN) – The Shapiro administration announced Tuesday that drinking water near the East Palestine train derailment site will be tested for the next 10 years.

So far, no contamination has been found but the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will continue sampling private drinking water wells within a one-mile radius of the derailment site for ten years, according to a news release from the DEP.

The DEP will oversee Norfolk Southern’s testing of three groundwater monitoring wells located in Pennsylvania as well.

A proposed agreement between the EPA and Norfolk Southern includes funding for the work.

The effort to monitor drinking water is supported by Governor Josh Shapiro and the Shapiro Administration who say they are committed to ensuring the health and safety of Western Pennsylvania residents.

Shapiro and Attorney General Michelle Henry are also pushing Norfolk Southern to go a step further than what was detailed in the proposed agreement.

They are asking for expansive testing, payment from the railroad for health treatment costs for those impacted, stronger monitoring provisions to expand monitoring beyond two miles out from the derailment site, and that Norfolk Southern adopt all the recommendations on rail safety from the NTSB final report on the derailment.

Shapiro and Henry submitted a comment on Norfolk’s proposed agreement Aug. 2 detailing their requests.

Other state agencies also continue to monitor data on the impact of the derailment.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health conducted a second round of Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) surveys in April, assessing the health impacts for residents and first responders.

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