BALTIMORE — It appears wastewater from an Ohio train derailment site will be treated in Baltimore after all.
Norfolk Southern, the company responsible for the incident earlier this year, is contracting with Clean Harbors to process the potentially toxic water collected at the crash site at its Baltimore facility.
Plans now are a little bit different than last time around.
After being treated in Baltimore Clean Harbors intends to ship the wastewater back to Ohio to be disposed of at their Cleveland facility.
Last March Norfolk Southern not only wanted the water treated in Baltimore, but they also requested that it be disposed of at the troubled Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Dundalk.
That led to fierce push back from state and local leaders, who expressed grave concerns over the impact it could have on the environment.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott later directed the Department of Public Works to deny Clean Harbors' request to discharge the water.
In a letter dated March 17 the EPA wrote "States have no basis to prevent receipt of out-of-state waste from East Palestine, particularly while allowing similar wastes to be disposed in their states."
Despite the EPA approving of the initial plan, Clean Harbors reversed course and decided not to process any of the wastewater in the Baltimore area.
RELATED: Baltimore will no longer treat, discharge wastewater from Ohio train derailment
It's unclear why Clean Harbors again changed their mind, but on Monday they issued a statement that reads in part.
Our Baltimore plant is uniquely designed to safely process any organics, even trace moments, and remove those from the wastewater. Out of respect for Mayor’s Scott’s ruling back in late March to not discharge any of the treated wastewater to the Baltimore Back River plant or anywhere locally, the wastewater will now be shipped in, treated at our plant and shipped back to Ohio for disposal.
According to the Maryland Department of the Environment, Norfolk Southern is aiming to transport 75,000 gallons of hazardous wastewater into Baltimore per day by either rail or truck. Shipments were scheduled to begin as early as April 29, but none have come in thus far.
"Although MDE received notice as required, MDE does not have regulatory authority over this matter," the department said in a statement. "Ultimately, these are decisions by private companies within their authority."
Clean Harbors described most of the incoming material as "rainwater, which carries relatively low levels of contaminated materials."
The February hazmat situation in East Palestine, Ohio created by the derailment led to neighborhood evacuations and the death of tens-of-thousands of fish.
Workers in Ohio who've been dealing with the cleanup process have also complained of migraines and nausea.
Maryland Delegates Ryan Nawrocki and Kathy Szeliga are still opposed to Ohio's toxic waste coming to Maryland.
Baltimore County Councilmembers said they have not been briefed on the plan and have also expressed concern about this decision.
We have the right to be concerned. Baltimore is not equipped to handle this treatment, especially when the Back River Plant has failed inspection multiple times.
Delegate Szeliga agreed saying:
The waste is coming to the infamous Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant that had a 2-alarm fire just last month. This plant has seen frequent sewer overflows into the river which eventually makes it way to our most precious natural resource - the Chesapeake Bay. We are still completely opposed to this plan.
