Posted on 03/27/23
| News Source: WBAL TV
City officials may have found a way to stop the discharge of toxic waste from the Ohio train derailment into Baltimore's system.
Some local elected officials and state lawmakers are trying to prevent the treatment and discharge of the material into the Back River.
Thirty-eight cars of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed on Feb. 28 in eastern Ohio. The Associated Press reported that half of the almost 5,000 residents of East Palestine, Ohio, had to evacuate for days when responders intentionally burned toxic chemicals in some of the derailed cars to prevent an uncontrolled explosion, leaving residents with lingering health concerns.
Since then, Norfolk Southern said it has a contract with Clean Harbors Environmental and Industrial Services in Baltimore to accept and treat the wastewater from the derailment.
On Friday, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said the city received a letter the night before from contractor Clean Harbors, stating that the company is one of many sites across the country selected to accept, treat and discharge the wastewater collected from rainwater at the derailment site. The wastewater would be treated at the city-run Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant in Dundalk.
| PDF: Read the letter
Clean Harbors wrote in its letter: "Clean Harbors proposes to begin receiving this wastewater immediately once approval is granted. The initial known quantity currently loaded in rail cars is 675,000 gallons."
The mayor and others felt as if their hands are legally tied. The mayor's office and the Baltimore County Executive's Office were waiting for a legal opinion from the Maryland Attorney General's Office regarding the requirement to treat and discharge the waste.