EPA, Norfolk Southern manipulated East Palestine soil testing data, report says
A new report alleges that soil samples following the 2023 fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio were manipulated by the EPA and Norfolk Southern.
they say allegedly proves negligence in testing for contaminated soil at the site of the crash.
According to the document, Norfolk Southern's contractor published a plan, but the Environmental Protection Agency then updated that plan the next day, directing that additional samples be taken in more heavily impacted locations.
This letter goes hand in hand with two other whistleblowers whose claims say that environmental testing wasn't conducted properly.
According to the whistleblowers, the key flaw was that baseline samples were inappropriately collected based on likely wind directions near the time of the burn of chemicals like vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate. They say this compromised the entire sampling plan.
Those whistleblowers also believe that officials who tested intentionally avoided testing in areas to show dioxin contamination.
East Palestine and Norfolk Southern previously agreed to a $22 million settlement earlier this year. It's unknown if anything will come from the alleged claims of wrong soil sampling.
