Toxic waste from Ohio derailment diverted from VBT

On Saturday night, Feb. 25, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office said that of the 20 truckloads (approximately 280 tons) of hazardous solid waste hauled away from the Feb. 6 East Palestine train derailment so far, 15 truckloads of contaminated soil was disposed of at a Van Buren Township hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility.
Five truckloads had been returned to East Palestine, the report said. This was following an uproar among Michigan Democrat elected officials who said they didn’t want Ohio’s toxic waste in their backyard.
On Monday, the hazardous waste began moving to Environmental Protection Agency approved sites in Ohio.
The EPA had temporarily haulted truckloads and tankers of waste from leaving the site on Saturday until the destinations were confirmed as properly certified.
Contaminated soil already had been sent to the Wayne Disposal facility at US Ecology on the North I-94 Service Drive, which is certified by the state and the EPA for such disposal. US Ecology recently was purchased by Republic Services.
On Sunday, a demonstration led by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and Wayne 12th Republicans Committee was held in Romulus to oppose the announcement that liquid waste from the Ohio derailment had been disposed of at the deep-well facility in the area of Inkster Road and Citrin Drive, also owned by Republic Services.
“Currently, about 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste remain in storage on site in East Palestine, not including the five truckloads returned to the village,” the Ohio governor’s office said. “Additional solid and liquid wastes are being generated as the cleanup progresses.”
No one was injured when 38 Norfolk Southern cars derailed in a fiery, mangled mess on the outskirts of town, but as fears grew about a potential explosion due to hazardous chemicals in five of the rail cars, officials evacuated the area. They later opted to release and burn toxic vinyl chloride from the tanker cars, sending flames and black smoke billowing into the sky again. Since then, response to the incident has become a political issue.
On Friday, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans held a quickly called press conference to express outrage that the waste was being brought into his county. Also present were Congresswomen Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib and State Sentor Darrin Camelerri.
“Wayne County government not knowing that they’re coming, (or) which way they’re coming (or) how safe the trucks are that are coming is something that has us all very, very irritated,” said County Executive Evans.
Republic spokesperson Roman Blahoski later said US Ecology is a leading provider of environmental solutions for waste disposal and has comprehensive compliance programs to protect the environment.
“The U.S. EPA is leading decisions regarding the classification of wastes from the East Palestine train derailment, and US Ecology’s landfill in Belleville, Mich., expects to begin receiving contaminated soil today,” he said before the shipments were suspended. “The low level of contaminants in the soil is well within the acceptable amount for disposal in our landfill. This state-of-the-art landfill was developed in accordance with federal regulations and is routinely inspected by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.”
On Friday, Sen. Camilleri issued the following statement: “Residents of Romulus and Van Buren Township deserve to know what is happening in their communities, especially when it comes to hazardous materials coming in from out of state. The communities that have to take this toxic waste were just notified late this afternoon and told there is nothing they can do to stop it because Republic is a private company and can choose whether or not to take it — this is inexcusable. My office has been in conversation with EGLE and local officials and will be monitoring this issue closely, and I am calling for transparency and oversight in this process to ensure that the health and safety of our community are protected.”
Sen. Camilleri asked why this waste was being transported almost four hours away to Michigan instead of staying in Ohio and urged Republic to reject the waste in the name of safety.
“After all that’s happened, why would it be safe to transport this waste nearly 250 miles?” asked Camilleri. “I’m urging them to keep their toxic waste in Ohio.”
Congresswoman Dingell also issued a statement on Friday: “We were not given a heads-up on this reported action. Our priority is to always keep the people we represent safe. We are making inquiries of EPA, DOT, Norfork Southern, US Ecology, the state of Ohio, and all others involved to understand what is being shipped, whether these are approved storage vacilities, the implications of this decision, and how we ensure the safety of all Michigan residents.”
On Sunday, Congresswoman Dingell mocked the Republicans who demonstrated in Romulus that afternoon with another statement: “We need more than just PR stunts by members of our state GOP, we need them to join us in the fight for safe storage of hazardous waste. It shouldn’t be in populated communities. John Dingell opposed this Romulus injection well 20 years ago, and many more including myself still do. Let’s work together to keep our communities safe.”
In 2022, US Ecology celebrated its 70th year as a landfill and with its toxic landfill designation is licensed and regularly inspected by the EPA and EGLE.
US Ecology’s Wayne Disposal, Inc., facility is the only commercial hazardous waste landfill in Michigan and the only landfill in EPA Region V with a TSCA approval to accept PCB contaminated wastes.