EAST PALESTINE — The Environmental Protection Agency reported in its latest derailment newsletter that sediment sampling in both Leslie and Sulphur Runs is complete.

The EPA reported that the “data generated by this work are being evaluated and compared to human health and ecological risk threshold criteria” and that the results “will lead to a determination about whether additional actions will be required and what those actions should be.” The condition of both waterways in the wake of February’s rail disaster have been a concern of the EPA and residents. The purpose of the sediment sampling was “to understand the extent of sediment contamination in Sulphur and Leslie Run.”

The newsletter also reported that an eco-assessment — a biological sampling to evaluate fish, habitat, macroinvertebrate and native mussel communities in surface waters — is underway in area creeks, while “fish and habitat sampling is complete in Leslie Run and will continue in Bull Creek and North Fork Little Beaver Creek.” Macroinvertebrate sampling will be conducted through the end of the month. Mussel surveys in Bull Creek and North Fork Little Beaver Creek are planned but are “dependent on water levels which remain high after recent rain events.” The Ohio EPA is overseeing the assessment and sampling.

In other mediation news, the agency reported that soil excavation and backfilling work at Car Scrapping Area 3 has been completed and announced the next steps in the remediation process. The EPA reported that “sitewide characterization will continue in areas near the derailment location where equipment, materials, and debris were handled as part of the overall emergency response, excavations in the South Ditch and Car Scrapping Area 4 will continue” as will the off-site disposal of excavated soil and untreated, hazardous wastewater.

To date, 33.4 million estimated gallons of wastewater and 115,797 estimated tons of waste soil have been removed as part of the clean-up efforts. According to the newsletter, sampling results from the on-site wastewater treatment system, which was built by Norfolk Southern and began operations last week, show treated wastewater can be disposed of off-site as non-hazardous. Each tank of treated wastewater is sampled before being shipped off to facilities certified to accept nonhazardous wastewater and that are regulated by federal and state environmental agencies.

In other announcements, the EPA will be releasing weekly short videos called “This Week at E.P.” to share what work will be occurring on site in the upcoming week. The videos can be viewed at epa.gov/east-palestine-oh-train-derailment.