Partnership Critical to Derailment Site Investigation Success

In the dark of night Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed a quarter-mile west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line in East Palestine, Ohio. By the early hours of the morning, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials arrived on site. According to the EPA, of the 150 train cars, about 50 were affected by the derailment. Of those affected, 20 contained hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol, ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, and isobutylene. Some cars caught fire. Some cars spilled contents into an adjacent ditch feeding streams which eventually empty into the Ohio River.

By Feb. 10, EnviroCore LLC was on the derailment site investigation location for the first time.

“This was a keystone project for anyone in the profession,” Joe Fleck, owner, said. “We saw a lot of top-level professionals sent to the project, which made us proud to be there.”

The incident coincided with completion of genuine Geoprobe^® factory refurbishment of their 6610DT and 6620DT. The rigs were shipped straight from Salina, Kansas, to the East Palestine site investigation project.

“People on site asked if we had new rigs when they were sitting next to our 7822DT, which is 10 years newer,” Fleck said. “The timing of completing those factory refurbishments couldn’t have been better and the quality of the job that was done was definitely noticed.”

They interchangeably used the 6610DT, 6620DT, and 7822DT to work on top of or on rails or go into side yards if they were near someone’s house.

“We chose compact Geoprobe^® rigs for their versatility in this dynamic situation. They gave us broader adaptability to cover different scenarios,” Fleck said. “We could angle between railroad ties, work around tracks, and work in muddy conditions.”

The 7822DT provided additional power for installing monitoring wells while the smaller rigs were ideal for shallow sampling. Their work on the site has been ongoing, falling into three phases.

Site Investigation Stages

• Immediately after the derailment: “We installed temporary shallow groundwater monitoring wells (STW) 25-50 feet deep across the incident site from East Pleasant Street to the Pennsylvania border.”
• During the initial clean-up phase: “We assessed subsurface along the utility lines to determine whether contaminants were traveling through these paths.”
• Following initial clean-up: “We’ve conducted shallow surface sampling from zero to 4 feet to assess presence of residual contaminant. We extensively assessed most of the shallow groundwater units across a couple hundred-acre site.”

Much about the site investigation project was atypical, including the amount of scrutiny and documentation required.

“The project involved the U.S. Coast Guard, OSHA, multiple consultants, U.S. EPA, Ohio EPA, and air monitoring professionals,” Fleck said. “During the first phase, we had six to 25 people watching us drill holes at any given time and the air monitoring professionals shadowing us.”

Their ability to rely on Geoprobe^® to be a phone call or email away — whether with questions on tooling or repairing a rig — was integral to their success on the derailment project.

“You have the sense that Geoprobe^® is part of your project. You’re on a site like this because you have one of the best vendors and manufacturers in the industry supporting you,” Fleck said. “Having the Geoprobe^® team behind you, and their ability to provide next-day delivery, on a high-profile job where people’s lives are at stake provides peace of mind. When we needed additional tooling or to replace some electrical lines on a rig, the team at Geoprobe^® headquarters working to sort it all out helped us immensely and allowed us to be responsive to the unfolding situation.”

Fleck’s praise extends to the consultants and railway company as well.

“The railway company doesn’t get enough credit for cleaning up this site. It was an unprecedented, Herculean effort to clean up this site that was well-managed by the consultants in charge,” Fleck said. “Published reports show almost no contamination remains. This is due in large part to their immediate response.”

East Palestine Derailment Details

Contaminants Present:

• vinyl chloride
• ethylene glycol
• ethylhexyl acrylate
• butyl acrylate
• isobutylene

By the Numbers:

• More than 14,000 tons est. of contaminated soil shipped (EPA, April 4, 2023)
• More than 10 million est. gallons of liquid wastewater shipped (EPA, April 4, 2023)
• $103M toward community support, $23M in direct assistance (Norfolk Southern, March 17, 2024)