By Katie White

Special to The Times

EAST PALESTINE — Municipal water testing is ongoing in the village while surrounding communities are also keeping their residents informed of the status of their water quality following the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recently released more water and air quality sampling results that include a much more detailed scope of chemicals that were tested around the derailment site and affected areas.

The chemicals and their results were listed in an analytical report prepared for the Norfolk Southern railroad company by Eurofins environment testing out of Canton.

This report and all OEPA water testing results can be found online at epa.ohio.gov.

The air and water sampling specifically tested for all chemicals related to the train derailment as well as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that are routinely tested by public water sources at least once a year.

“These final results confirm that there is no indication of risk to East Palestine Public Water Customers,” the OEPA said on its website.

East Palestine Water Superintendent Scott Wolfe said on Tuesday that water sampling was performed that day on all five of the village’s wells and the plant tap.

“Ohio EPA and a Norfolk Southern contractor (AECOM) sampled. Hopefully we will have those results in a few days. Again though, the Village municipal water is safe and being tested weekly moving forward,” he said.

Chemicals of concern for many East Palestine residents and those in the surrounding areas immediately following the derailment include vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, benzene, and butyl acrylate, which were released during the mitigation efforts.

Several other chemicals were also of concern, and test results for all chemicals related to the derailment are available in the test results published by the OEPA online.

Butyl acrylate is allegedly suspected in the death of 3,500 fish and other living organisms in the streams around East Palestine, although a direct correlation has not yet been confirmed.

According to the OEPA, butyl acrylate was detected in surface water sampling conducted on Feb. 10. Samples were taken from Leslie Run, the North Fork Little Beaver Creek and Beaver Creek.

Butyl acrylate and ethyl hexyl acrylate were both detected in Leslie Run, but at “very low levels,” the OEPA said.

Butyl acrylate is highly flammable and can cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation and even pulmonary edema after heavy inhalation, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Ethyl hexyl acrylate can cause lethargy and headaches, nausea and respiratory irritations in humans.

No butyl acrylate was detected in North Fork Little Beaver Creek or Beaver Creek, although there was a “much lower level” of ethyl hexyl acrylate detected, the OEPA said.

The OEPA also said that no vinyl chloride has been detected in any of those waterways.

“Sulfur Run flows into Leslie Run, which flows into North Fork Little Beaver Creek, which discharges into the Ohio River,” the OEPA said.

The Ohio EPA stated that Ohio River sampling by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission at 20 different locations on Feb. 18 indicated no butyl acrylate has been detected in the Ohio River.

Water testing results released by the Ohio EPA on Friday that were from samples taken Feb 12 showed that treated drinking water had no detection of contaminants associated with the derailment.

Furthermore, the OEPA said on its website that the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission is continuing testing at various sites along the Ohio River.

The samples were collected on Feb. 18-19 and analyzed by the Greater Cincinnati Water Works with permission to share.

“All locations are currently below the 1.00ppb detection level,” the OEPA said.