By STEPHANIE ELVERD

(Lisbon) Morning Journal

EAST PALESTINE — Environmental Protection Agency Response Coordinator Mark Durno discussed preliminary results of the completed Phase I soil-sampling with East Palestine residents at First United Presbyterian Church on Thursday.

Durno reported that while dioxins were created by the Norfolk Southern train derailment on Feb. 3 and controlled burn of vinyl chloride days later, the levels detected were not large enough amounts to cause an alarm.

“We found that dioxins were absolutely created,” Durno said. “Our modeling shows that there were impacts but not significant impacts.”

The median results in East Palestine were 4.8 parts per trillion (ppt). The EPA determined in 1989 that dioxin soil concentrations of less than 1,000 parts per trillion (ppt) were safe for residential areas and between 5,000 to 20,000 ppt in commercial and industrial soil. Anything above those levels would trigger a cleanup and remediation.

However, the agency tried to change that threshold a decade ago. In 2010, the EPA asked to lower that preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for dioxin in soils to 72 ppt for residential soil and 950 ppt for commercial/industrial soil. The EPA considered lowering those numbers even further to 3.7 ppt TEQ in residential soil and 17 ppt TEQ in commercial/industrial soil. However, the 1989 threshold still stands. Ohio uses the federal standard though some states require cleanup as low as 50 ppt.

According to Durno, at the level that dioxins were measured in the soil in and around East Palestine, harm would only occur from continuous exposure.

“You’re talking about exposure 365 days a year, 24 hours a day at the level of 4.8. That’s not realistic,” he said.

The EPA said the numbers are consistent with typical background levels of dioxins that are created by any combustion processes. That combustion can be as simple as smoking a cigarette or cooking out in your backyard.

“We know we’re all exposed to it. When we sit around a campfire, we’re exposed to it,” Durno said “This is no different, when we’re exposed to these soils, we’re exposed at very low levels.”

The EPA sampled and tested soil at 148 residential, recreational, commercial and agricultural locations — 89 from Ohio and 59 from Pennsylvania. Each location was sampled for both shallow and deep samples, meaning one at the surface and one below the surface.

Seven of those locations were inside the East Palestine City Park. Those results were released at the beginning of April with the EPA reporting that “results show that levels of dioxin and semi-volatile organic compounds are well below any levels that we would consider restricting activities, and all are either at or below typical background levels in the United States.”

On Thursday, Durno said that sampling showed dioxin levels anywhere from 2.6 to 14 ppt in and around East Palestine. Levels in Pennsylvania returned results as higher than 100 ppt. Durno said the Pennsylvania results, while not wildly alarming, would likely lead to further testing.

Residents in attendance pushed back at the EPA findings, saying that if a campfire created low-level dioxins, it is not a stretch to assume the controlled burn of 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride would lead to high levels.

Residents also voiced concern over the results of private medical testing that some say are showing high levels of vinyl chloride in their urine samples. Durno did not have an answer.

“I understand your frustration but we just don’t see a path to exposure,” he said. “We are not seeing it in the air, we are not seeing it in the water and we are not seeing it in the soil. We just see where the common source of the exposure is in our data.”

Concerns over the conditions of the creeks and waterway were also expressed as Durno was told that chemicals can still be seen in the creek beds. He advised residents to stay clear of the creeks until further notice.

selverd@mojonews.com