Rail operator Norfolk Southern was compelled to pay for the cleanup after the East Palestine, Ohio train disaster (Picture: AP)

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered rail operator Norfolk Southern to clean up toxic waste after one of their cargo trains carrying hazardous materials derailed in eastern Ohio.

The order comes nearly three weeks after the train derailed near the Pennsylvania border, sparking a fire and causing a massive explosion when the hazardous chemicals were ignited in a controlled burn.

‘Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess that they created and the trauma that they inflicted on this community and impacted Beaver County residents,’ EPA Administrator Michael Regan said.

‘This is common sense. This is their mess. They should clean it up,’ President Joe Biden said in a statement posted on Twitter shortly after the EPA’s announcement.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announces the order compelling Norfolk Southern to pay for the derailment cleanup (Picture: AP)

In addition to the EPA, the federal government has deployed assets from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to help tackle the crisis.

Regan said the EPA will legally force the company to ‘clean up all contamination in soil and water, and safely transport that contamination to the appropriate locations to ensure that residents are not impacted further – from the debris and chemicals you see in the waterways to the soil in and around the crash site.’

He also said the EPA will offer their own cleaning services residents and businesses within the blast radius to provide ‘an additional layer of reassurance’ to residents. These services will also be paid for by Norfolk Southern.

‘If the company fails to complete any action ordered by EPA, the agency will immediately step in, conduct the work ourselves, and then force Norfolk Southern to pay triple in cost,’ Regan said. ‘In no way shape or form will Norfolk Southern get off the hook for the mess that they created.’

HEPACO workers place booms in a stream in East Palestine (Picture: AP)

In response, Norfolk Southern said they would ‘thoroughly and safely’ conduct cleanup efforts in East Palestine.

‘From day one, I’ve made the commitment that Norfolk Southern is going to remediate the site, we’re going to do continuous long-term air and water monitoring, we’re going to help the residents of this community recover, and we’re going to invest in the long-term health of this community. And we’re going to make Norfolk Southern a safer railroad,’ Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said.

However, representatives from the company have so far failed to show up at scheduled town hall events to answer questions directly from East Palestine residents.

Norfolk Southern backed out of the event last minute, citing unspecified ‘physical threats’ against the rail operator’s employees.

Norfolk Southern will be required to clean all toxic chemicals out of local water sources in East Palestine (Picture: REUTERS)

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also derided the company’s ‘corporate greed and incompetence,’ saying they made the decision to ignite toxic chemicals outside of the unified command set up by Ohio and Pennsylvania governments.

‘They gave us inaccurate information and conflicting modeling data, and they refused to explore or articulate alternative courses of action when we were dealing with the derailment in the early days,’ Shapiro said.

Criminal investigations into Norfolk Southern’s conduct have been launched by both the Ohio and Pennsylvania attorneys general.

President Biden also said the US Department of Transportation would work to review safety regulations, but he also said the Trump administration ‘limited our ability to implement and strengthen rail safety measures.’

‘Rail companies have spent millions of dollars to oppose common-sense safety regulations,’ Biden said. ‘And it’s worked. This is more than a train derailment or a toxic waste spill – it’s years of opposition to safety measures coming home to roost.’

In a statement, Norfolk Southern said they would ‘learn from this terrible accident and work with regulators and elected officials to improve railroad safety.’

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‘Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess that they created and the trauma that they inflicted on this community.’