EAST PALESTINE — U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance came to East Palestine on Monday to meet with village leaders and residents and to see for himself the progress of cleanup efforts after the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment.

The Cincinnati Republican left voicing frustration for the procedures that he says are slowing that process, and he leveled most of his criticism at the Environmental Protection Agency.

“If you want to dig this stuff out of the ground, you have to get certain approvals. To dispose of the dirt once it’s out of the ground, you have to get other approvals. What I’ve heard consistently from people is that the EPA is taking way too long to give those approvals,” Vance said.

“It’s taking way too long to clean up this town. We’ve had criticism of the EPA in the past, but this is the first I’ve heard about this particular concern. If all the people in this community are telling us the EPA is making it harder to clean up their community, I think there is something clearly amiss here, and we need to figure out what that is.”

The EPA has conceded the work plans — particularly the plans to assess and remediate Leslie and Sulphur runs — have taken longer than it would have liked. During an informational session last month, Region 5 response coordinator Mark Durno told residents that the delay comes down to too strict of deadline given to Norfolk Southern, which resulted in incomplete submissions from the railroad and a shortage of EPA scientists to look over the more detailed plans and then discuss what changes need to be made to move forward. Durno described the process as a “back-and forth” between the EPA and Norfolk Southern.

The surface water work plans just recently were approved by the EPA. Those plans include Leslie Run and Downstream Creeks Characterization Work Plan as well as the Sulphur Run Characterization Work Plan.

Vance also criticized the EPA for providing the public with contradicting and, at times, incomplete information — especially when it comes to the conditions of the waterways.

“I was told by some residents last week that the EPA said there was no contamination in Leslie Run. I was just there today, and you can see it,” Vance said.

Concern about contamination in Leslie Run heightened last week when the federal and state EPAs as well as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources confirmed a large fish-kill event. The federal and state EPAs concluded that the event was not related to the derailment but rather the Park Avenue Bridge replacement project.

The Ohio EPA, which stated last week that Leslie Run “generally shows no indication of chemicals associated with the derailment,” maintained Friday that the sheen that Vance and residents are seeing doesn’t necessarily indicate contamination from the derailment.

“Different types of bacteria colonies can resemble an oil sheen. When sediments are disturbed, particularly in the upper portion of Leslie Run near Sulphur Run, we have observed sheen,” the Ohio EPA said via email. “Those sediments will be sampled as part of the Leslie Run characterization work plan. We have seen no fish and wildlife impacts from past disturbances of sediment during cleanup activities.”

Vance said it’s that kind of reaction to legitimate concerns that has left residents skeptical of the EPA. The lack of indoor air testing and the inability for some to get their private wells tested six months after the derailment have only added that mistrust.

“I want the people of East Palestine to know they are not forgotten, but they have a right to be frustrated,” Vance said. “And they have a right to be frustrated by the EPA. They want to get their air quality tested indoors and the EPA is not doing it. That frustration is justified. I am not going to tell them that it’s not. They want to get back to normal and rebuild their community but the residents of East Palestine are still worried about water and air quality.”

Vance also said passage of the Railway Safety Act of 2023, a bill introduced by Vance, along with Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and intended to enhance and strengthen rail safety also is needed to help East Palestine heal.