EAST PALESTINE — With most of the major remediation complete to cleanup for the February 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical spill, focus now will shift to the waterways.

The spring assessment of Leslie and Sulphur Runs started this week and will continue as weather allows, according to the site update tab on nsmakingitright.com. The assessment will include sheen surveys, sediment and water sampling.

The process is expected to be a repeat of the assessment last ordered in October of 2023 by the U.S. Environmental Agency and its authority under the Clean Water Act.

The EPA directed Norfolk Southern to investigate visible sheen in the creeks, which has been a concern of residents since the rail disaster more than two years ago. The qualitative assessment evaluating sheen was first explained in the EPA-approved Sulphur Run Characterization Work Plan, released in June 2023 and revised in July of the same year. The process involved agitating the stream sediment and turning over rocks and then grading sheen uncovered on a scale of 0-3 — 0 being no sheen

visible and 3 being heavy sheen.

Last week, when speaking to East Palestine Council, Eric Pohl, the new project manager overseeing the East Palestine cleanup, noted he expects the latest creek assessment to reflect significant progress since spring 2023.

The results of last year’s spring assessment are still available online at epa.gov/east-palestine-oh-train-derailment.

“If crews observed sheen, they assigned a score on a 0-to-3 scale depending on the amount of sheen visible. Zero means no sheen was present and three means lots of sheen was present,” the EPA said when posting the results in April of 2024. “In Leslie Run, 59% of locations

had some sheen, compared to 66% of locations in Sulphur Run. In background locations, 92% of areas had no sheen.”

In other remediation, nsmakingitright.com reports that work in the east end of the derailment site, two detections of 2-butoxyethanol and “other chemicals” were identified in January. 2-Butoxyethanol acetate is a colorless liquid with a fruity odor used as a solvent in paint and cleaning products and can cause irritation of the nose and eyes, headache, a metallic taste in their mouth and vomiting when exposed to it.

According to the railroad, over the next few weeks, crews will install an enhanced monitoring network of groundwater wells in the east end area.

Also, Norfolk Southern said air monitoring in the village will be reduced. Currently, air monitoring continues sitewide, but “as the scope of site activities continues to diminish, the associated air monitoring will also be reduced accordingly.”

Norfolk Southern advised that Taggart Street remains open to traffic and the community should anticipate periodic site-related equipment and vehicles on the road and that ongoing monitoring of surface water, groundwater and drinking water wells continues per the schedules defined in the associated work plans.

Restoration of properties that make up the derailment site and those areas used during response efforts will “continue as weather conditions allow.”

According to the railroad, 74 million gallons of water has been recovered and transported off site, 224,756 tons of waste soil removed, 5,200 feet of impacted waterways have been flushed and 1,882 drinking water wells have been sampled during two years of remediation work, which are expected to wind down and wrap up sometime late spring or early summer.