About 15,000 pounds of contaminated soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water have been excavated from site of a train derailment on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, Norfolk Southern said Monday.
Dozens of rail cars, including 11 carrying toxic chemicals, derailed as the train passed through the town on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Officials conducted a controlled release of vinyl chloride three days after the derailment to avoid an explosion.
Norfolk Southern said that a "majority" of the hazardous rail cars have been decontaminated, but they'll stay on the scene until the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation.
Federal and state officials have conducted numerous tests and assured East Palestine residents that the air and water is safe, but some locals are still concerned about their long term health and the environmental effects of the derailment.
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Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, wrote a letter to Environmental Protection Agency officials over the weekend, raising the alarm about the potential for the combustion of vinyl chloride to lead to the formation of highly toxic compounds called dioxins.
"We are concerned that the burning of large volumes of vinyl chloride may have resulted in the formation of dioxins that may have been dispersed throughout the East Palestine community and potentially a much larger area," Vance and Brown wrote in the letter, adding that officials should immediately implement a testing regimen in the area.
"This monitoring should not only be a part of a long-term strategy, it should be implemented immediately and communicated to the local community to ensure transparency."
Despite the assurances, thousands of dead fish have cropped up in bodies of water around East Palestine and residents have experienced their own health complications.
"As far as any side effects, I've had a headache and just the odd tingling sensation like in the gums and on my lips occasionally," East Palestine resident Linda Murphy told Fox News last week.
"But I know that some other residents are experiencing things of a similar nature, and a lot of children are having some issues with rashes, discoloration of the skin. My brother-in-law actually went to the hospital and got checked out. He was having some severe symptoms, some breathing issues."
Norfolk Southern set up a Family Assistance Center in the town and said it has committed more than $5.6 million to residents, including $3.4 million in direct assistance to families, $1 million for a community assistance fund, $1 million for a new community liaison, and $220,000 to reimburse first responders who had equipment damaged.
Fox News' Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
