EPA Chief Warns States Against Blocking East Palestine Waste

Michael Regan, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, made a statement Friday morning, calling out states refusing hazardous waste from East Palestine, Ohio, calling the action, “unlawful.”

Regan spoke to reporters on a call to give updates on the effort to clean up the site in East Palestine.

“…some states may have sought to block acceptance of the waste from the cleanup site. Some have even taken misinformed and misguided shots at the EPA in the process. But it’s the people of East Palestine who are being hurt, and the EPA will not stand for it,” Regan said on Friday.

The Agency warned State Officials that States cannot unilaterally block shipments coming from East Palestine to its facilities.

“A State that blocks these waste shipments may be impeding Norfolk Southern’s ability to comply with obligations under the CERCLA, as well as EPA’s order to Norfolk Southern, which is unlawful,” Regan continued. “We’ve been abundantly clean with our state partners that waste from East Palestine has been subject to more testing and more analysis … than other similar wase regular accepted at facilities nationwide.”

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