EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Field crops around East Palestine were not contaminated by the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical burn that followed, according to the state of Ohio.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio State University on May 16 released final results from plant tissue sample testing on crops within five-mile radius of the derailment that occurred in February.
The samples showed plants did not contain semi-volatile organic compounds associated with the train derailment, according to an Ohio EMA press release. Samples were taken between April 10-12 from winter wheat, pasture grasses, malting barley and forage covers from 16 sites in Columbiana County.
All samples were analyzed for the same 26 selected semi-volatile organic compounds the U.S. EPA has been testing for in soil samples. The full list of compounds and finalized test results can be found here.
In a release, the state said ODA director Brian Baldridge and OSU staff on May 16 met with landowners where plant material samples had been taken to review the results.
