EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — A recent, brief update on the Norfolk Southern website — nsmakingitright.com — announced that the railroad has completed efforts to cleanup and restore the site of the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment and chemical release. Norfolk Southern did not issue a press release regarding the milestone, nor were any additional statements made.
“Site restoration activities are complete, and the associated particulate air monitoring has concluded in accordance with approved plans,” the update says. “Demobilization of equipment and work trailers continues, and efforts will be made to not interfere with village traffic.”
The derailment occurred around 9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. Fifty cars of a NS train moving from Madison, Ill., to Conway, Pa., left the track in the small town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania stateline. Between 1,500 and 2,000 residents were placed under a mandatory evacuation order.
The nsmakingitright.com update also indicated that local waterway remediation has been successfully completed.
“The final stream sheen assessment, including sediment sampling, is complete for both Leslie and Sulphur Runs,” the website says. “The results of this final sheen assessment indicate achievement of the work plan goals with no apparent derailment related sheens remaining on either stream. The details for previously completed mitigation activities, and the results of final stream sheen assessment and sediment sampling are being compiled and will be reported to EPA in the coming weeks.”
The update states that “data from the March/April 2025 stream reassessment were reported to EPA on June 20 and that “no human health risks related to the derailment were identified in surface water in the two previous assessments performed in 2024.”
The website also indicated that NS still has planned work to complete east of the derailment site.
During the cleanup effort 74 million gallons of water was recovered and transported off site along with 240,346 tons of contaminated soil. Additionally, 5,200 feet of impacted streams were flushed and 2,028 drinking water wells sampled.
Estimates at the end of 2024 placed the cleanup cost at more than $2.2 billion, including legal fees.
