BELLEVILLE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Belleville, Michigan will be the new home of most, if not all, of the contaminated soil that is being removed from the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment that happened in East Palestine, Ohio.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a press release that the process of removing the contaminated soil began today and “Under the direction of the Ohio EPA, Norfolk Southern brought in large dump trucks to move contaminated soil to U.S. Ecology Wayne Disposal, a licensed hazardous waste disposal facility in Michigan.”

MORE NEWS: Grand Rapids to Review Proposed $100.5M Bond For Soccer Stadium.

The press release goes on to say, “This will be a continuous effort to properly manage and safely dispose of the waste. So far, 4,832 cubic yards of soil have been excavated from the ground and more may be removed as cleanup proceeds. When the process begins to dig up the tracks and remove the soil underneath, that soil will be hauled away immediately and taken to a proper disposal facility.

A total of 1,715,433 gallons of contaminated liquid has also been removed from the immediate site of the derailment. Of this, 1,133,933 gallons have been hauled off-site, with most going to Texas Molecular, a hazardous waste disposal facility in Texas. A smaller amount of waste has been directed to Vickery Environmental in Vickery, Ohio.”

According to US Ecology, a Republic Services company, their Wayne Disposal facility is the only commercial hazardous waste landfill in Michigan and the only landfill in EPA Region V (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and 35 Tribes) with a TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) approval to accept PCB contaminated wastes (polychlorinated biphenyl). Their website says that their state-of-the-art landfill cells feature double composite liner systems, leachate collection systems and leak detection systems.

As of press time, Republic Services was not available for comment.

 

MORE NEWS: Michigan AG’s Office is Recording Calls Without Your Knowledge – and Doesn’t Want to Talk About It