EAST PALESTINE – On Friday, Chris Hunsicker, regional manager of Environmental Operations at Norfolk Southern, was hopeful that completion of the remediation on the south track at the site of February’s train derailment would take just a few more days.

The railroad met that projected goal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reporting Wednesday that rail traffic is running at a slow speed on the rebuilt track. Norfolk Southern plans to resume normal operations southbound before beginning cleanup and restoration work on the other set of tracks. That work, which will include soil excavation and the removing and replacing of the north rails, is expected to get underway today. The EPA said rail cars are expected to be seen traveling on the south track that runs through the derailment site.

“It’s been a two-month effort to get the south track finished,” Hunsicker said. “We expect to repeat that on the other tracks, but we were able to learn a lot of things and we gained some efficiency so we could see the north tracks completed a little sooner. Our goal is to get the dirt excavated and shipped out as soon as possible. We had some things hold us up on the first set of tracks that we don’t anticipate again as we move forward.”

Cleanup efforts were hindered in March when officials of the states where licensed disposal facilities were located began turning away shipments of derailment waste. Oklahoma, Texas and Michigan all initially refused to accept the shipments before the federal EPA stepped in and ordered them to do so under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as “Superfund.”

As the dirt is dug up, it is tested and placed in designated stockpiles at the crash site to await removal. The EPA said those stockpiles are covered overnight and vapor suppressants are being utilized to address odor/vapor issues associated with the derailment site excavation. So far, an estimated 28,254 tons of contaminated soil has been disposed of offsite.

Along with the toxic dirt, 12,839,545 gallons of liquid waste have been removed. That wastewater is generated by rain and from cleaning and washing trucks leaving the site. Clean stormwater is irrigated around the derailment site.

The EPA also reported that the Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) mobile laboratory was halted Saturday as track excavation work was being completed. The TAGA bus will return to making its slow rounds around the village today, monitoring air quality.

In other air quality news, the EPA has completed 630 indoor air screenings and air monitoring is being conducted continuously at 23 stations throughout the community. The EPA reported that “no detections of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride have been identified.”

The EPA completed Phase I of its soil-sampling process. The agency reports that a total of 148 residential, recreational, commercial and agricultural soil sample sets have been collected to date – 89 from Ohio and 59 from Pennsylvania. A soil sampling information meeting will be held today from 6 to 7 p.m. at The Way Station inside First United Presbyterian Church at 109 W. Rebecca St. Mark Durno, EPA response coordinator, will be in attendance. The session will explain who was conducting soil sampling, how sampling was done and how results are interpreted. A presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer opportunity and a short demonstration.

selverd@mojonews.com