Clean air is on the minds of many as we watch the aftermath of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Here in West Virginia, communities have had questions about what they were breathing near industrial facilities for generations. But an agreement between the state Department of Environmental Protection and Union Carbide Corporation could help ease the minds of those in Institute, W.Va.
An agreement between the DEP’s Division of Air Quality and Union Carbide will implement new measures to reduce ethylene oxide (a known human carcinogen) emissions from the facility. According to the DEP, UCC’s EtO distribution system at its Institute facility is responsible for unloading all rail cars containing EtO and supplying it to the Institute and South Charleston facilities. DEP says the system was already in compliance with EtO terms, conditions and air permits, but these new steps will go beyond even federal rules and regulations.
“They will be enforced at the state level and reduce the amount of EtO emitted and the potential risk in the Institute area,” DEP said.
“This agreement is an important step in ensuring that the health and well-being of West Virginia’s communities remain protected,” said WVDEP Secretary Harold Ward. “It is the result of working through our regulatory process, collecting fence line monitoring data, and conducting significant public outreach.”
Wonderful. But the work is far from over.
DEP says it is “continuing to work with West Virginia facilities and communities to reduce the potential health risks associated with air toxic emissions.” Collaborative agreements with corporations are a nice way to get that done, but officials had better not be counting on (or waiting for) agreements in all the Mountain State’s affected communities.
Playing nice won’t finish this job; and West Virginians have already waited long enough.
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