OKLAHOMA CITY — A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson claims Oklahoma is contractually and legally required to accept for disposal a shipment of contaminated soil from the train derailment in Ohio.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Sunday tweeted:
“Late yesterday I was made aware that a shipment of toxic waste from the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was coming to Oklahoma. Immediately I worked with my team, Senator [James] Lankford, Senator [Markwayne] Mullin, and Congressman [Frank] Lucas to stop the shipment from coming to our state. There are too many unanswered questions and ultimately I made the decision that this is not in the best interest of Oklahomans. As of late last night that shipment has been blocked.”
Lankford, too, weighed in with this tweet: “There are too many unknowns for this proposal to shift hazardous waste from East Palestine, Ohio, to Oklahoma. The EPA has not guaranteed the safety of the people of Ohio, and Oklahoma should be as rightly concerned about a substance. Governor Stitt is right to push back.”
But the Environmental Protection Agency promptly pushed back.
In a statement, Maria Michalos, a spokesperson for the federal agency, accused Stitt of playing politics.
She said Norfolk Southern Railway Co. is already under contract with a disposal facility in Oklahoma that is able to accept the waste and the EPA “has safeguards in place to ensure communities are protected every step of the way.”
The EPA indicated Norfolk Southern planned to ship the waste material from Ohio to Lone Mountain, a toxic waste storage site near Waynoka that is operated by Clean Harbors Inc. The shipment reportedly involved more than 3,600 tons of contaminated soil and was expected to arrive in Oklahoma on Monday.
Stitt “is playing politics at the expense of the people of East Palestine, Ohio,” Michalos said. “It’s not only wrong, it’s unlawful to refuse shipments of waste because they come from other states,” she said. “We are reviewing all legal authorities to ensure that the people of East Palestine, who’ve suffered enough already, don’t become victims of this political grandstanding.”
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, 38 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying vinyl chloride derailed the evening of Feb. 3 and a fire ensued, damaging another 12 cars. Norfolk Southern must handle and pay for all necessary cleanup, and the company has sent some hazardous waste out of state.
More than 1.2 million gallons of contaminated firefighting water were sent to Texas Molecular outside of Houston.
EPA regional administrator Debra Shore announced earlier this month that waste would be shipped to sites in East Liverpool and Vickery, Ohio, and several truckloads were initially sent to a hazardous waste facility in Romulus, Michigan. Putnam County, Indiana, Commissioner David Berry said approximately 2,000 tons of butyl acrylate from the derailment would be shipped to a local hazardous waste landfill.