EPA immediately pauses toxic waste shipments from Ohio train derailment site to Harris County, o...
Good evening and thank you for joining us. I'm Seon Rhodes. We are tracking the latest on that decision to pause a shipment of water used to put out the fire after the Ohio train to Realme.d. Our Bill Barajas live downtown in Bill U. We're able to speak with Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo about that decision tonight. What'd she say? Well Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo telling us that hold is a temporary one meant to give the Environmental Protection Agency just enough time to look over and approve how that toxic water is being handled and disposed of remember about half a million gallons of that water is already here in Harris County.
The Environmental Protection Agency hit the pause button on Texas Molecular and the work being done at their 11-acre Deer Park facility which includes their decision to accept about two million gallons of toxic water from the Ohio train derailment. We're very close touch with the EPA and the Department of Transportation and I think it's they're being very responsive to the concerns in our community and that's heartening and it's heartening for them to pause things while they come up with the next steps. Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo telling us it was the Ohio EPA the state agency that was initially managing the situation. They weren't very much communicating with the rest of us and it was clear that nobody in in up and down whether it be the federal government whether it be us had visibility into the whole situation. That clarity is why various local and state leaders got involved. News of the pause initially coming to via Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee's Twitter. The tweet said in part Congresswoman Jackson Lee has worked intensely with the EPA and EPA administrator for the last few days to protect communities from toxic waste disposal.
Hidalgo telling KPRC the EPA's decision on how to proceed will come within a couple of days. Within a few days they're gonna tell us what exactly is in that water what the recommendation is for for how it's gonna be transported and then from there the Department of Transportation if it does in fact end up coming to Harris County after all to continue coming to Harris County they will make sure that it's done in the safest way possible. Hidalgo says her team has not yet spoken to Tetris molecular about the pause they did however request requests rather a list of chemicals that were being transported here from Ohio from the company they never got that list as of tonight we reached out to Texas molecular also did not hear back from them as of tonight we're live in downtown Bill Barajas KPRC 2 news.
latest, news on demand