Baltimore Blocks Treatment Of Contaminated Water From Ohio Train Derailment

"Shipments of dirt and wastewater have prompted concerns in communities across the country, complicating the derailment cleanup".

"An environmental company abandoned a plan Tuesday to treat contaminated runoff water from East Palestine, Ohio, in Baltimore after city officials blocked it from using the sewer system, the latest challenge to cleaning the train derailment site amid opposition from communities unwilling to accept waste.

Clean Harbors told Baltimore officials last week it was preparing to receive train car loads of wastewater contaminated after the Feb. 3 derailment for processing at a facility in the Maryland city. Leaders in Baltimore and Maryland said they worried about risks the water might pose to a struggling public sewage plant in the city.

State officials didn’t initially believe they could block the water shipments, which are being overseen by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. But late Monday, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) announced that city lawyers had concluded he could modify a sewage permit and effectively halt the treatment project."

Ian Duncan reports for the Washington Post March 28, 2023.

Source: Washington Post, 03/29/2023