oday, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) sent this letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan demanding the agency expand the one-mile radius around the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment site to allow for more Pennsylvanians to receive federal air, water, and soil testing. The one-mile radius allowed for just 22 Pennsylvania homes — all of which are in Beaver County, Pa. — to receive assistance in the aftermath of the February 3 derailment, in which hazardous chemicals spilled from rail cars and were subsequently burned off, releasing the chemicals into the air.
Lawrence County, Pa., which is included in Kelly’s 16th Congressional District, is just three miles from the derailment site. E.P.A. officials have stated they are testing and monitoring the water of the Ohio River for 40 miles. Just last week, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimated that over 43,000 animals, mostly fish, were killed within a five-mile radius in the immediate aftermath of the derailment.
During a Feb. 24, 2023 roundtable meeting, local Lawrence County elected officials and local leaders expressed serious concerns about a lack of air, water, and soil quality testing and monitoring in Lawrence County and Western Pennsylvania at large following the derailment and controlled burn.
“The people of Lawrence County deserve answers now. They deserve to know if their well water is safe to drink and if their soil is safe to plant ahead of the upcoming farming season,” Rep. Kelly said. “The evidence has shown that wildlife has been negatively impacted by chemicals and hazardous materials for miles around the crash site. Local residents have expressed serious concerns that their own land and water may be as well. It’s time for answers.”
You can read the full letter here.
