RUSSELLVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Shipments of soil from an Ohio train derailment have resumed to a central Indiana landfill.
The vice president of Heritage Environmental Services told News 8 the shipments were back on after third-party testing revealed the soil did not contain harmful levels of dioxins.
No one was hurt in the fiery train derailment Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, but the village faces a cleanup that involves relocating soil. Ohio filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern to make sure it pays for the cleanup and environmental damage, the state’s attorney general said Tuesday.
Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw apologized before Congress last week for the impact the derailment has had on the Ohio village. The railroad has promised more than $20 million so far to help the Ohio community recover while also announcing several voluntary safety upgrades.
Some of the soil from Ohio is destined for the landfill located 2 miles from Russellville. Earlier this month dozens of residents criticized Heritage officials during a meeting for not being forthcoming about receiving the materials.
During that meeting Heritage officials told the crowd that its landfill in Putnam County is one of the few in the Midwest that is equipped to handle the type of contaminants that were spilled from that train.
Derrick Wiatt, a Russellville resident, told News 8 on Wednesday, “It has to go somewhere. It’s unfortunate that it’s here. Yeah, it’s unfortunate, but, if not us, it’s some other small town.”
Indiana and Putnam County officials had said the federal government never told them that Indiana would be getting some of that soil until it started arriving.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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As reported by WISH-TV | Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather | Indiana Traffic