Ohio train derailment: Mike DeWine assures air, village water are safe following toxic chemical spill
DeWine says the railroad will be held accountable
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is assuring residents the air and village system water is good following the hazardous train derailment in East Palestine.
"We've brought the scientists in," DeWine told "The Story" on Wednesday. "We brought the people in who can test the air throughout this. The air has been good."
DeWine told Martha MacCallum that officials "waited until [the] air was again clear" before telling evacuated residents they could return home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We continue to monitor the air," he explained. "We've told people that we will go into their homes and send the experts in, the people who can do the testing and test right in their individual home. We're continuing to do that. EPA has been in many, many, many homes, hundreds of homes."
A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. ((AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file))
Water in the village system is now good for residents, the governor said, while individual wells must be tested by the EPA.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The water in the system, the community’s system, the village’s system, that water is safe," he told Fox News. "If you have an individual well, what we have said is we will come out, our EPA will come out and test your individual well. So, until your well is tested, if that's what your water source is, you should not drink it."
The village’s water testing results showed all five separate wells "indicate the testing is negative" and "it’s clear," he said.
"That water certainly can be consumed by residents," he explained the difference. "I know people have been concerned about that. You know, we advised people until we got the testing back. We advised them... don't drink the water, use bottled water, but the experts all along told us, 'Look, these wells are so deep, we don't see how that could be any kind of problem at all.'"
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This photo taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio are still on fire at mid-day Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
DeWine shared he does not have concerns for the railroad, but only for the residents impacted by the chemical catastrophe.
"We've made it very clear that the railroad is responsible for this," he told Fox News. "I talked to the CEO yesterday and I said, ‘Look, people are concerned that you're going to leave, (the) railroad is going to leave before you have this totally cleaned up.’ The CEO told me, ‘Absolutely not. We're not going to leave. We're going to stay in there’ and we're going to hold him to that."