FILE – A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. West Virginia’s water utility says it’s taking precautionary steps following the derailment of a train hauling chemicals that later sent up a toxic plume in Ohio. The utility said in a statement on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2023 that it has enhanced its treatment processes even though there hasn’t been a change in raw water at its Ohio River intake. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)

DEER PARK, Texas (AP) — Toxic wastewater used to extinguish a fire following a train derailment in Ohio is headed to a Houston suburb for disposal.
“I and my office heard today that ‘firefighting water’ from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment is slated to be disposed of in our county,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a Wednesday statement.
“Our Harris County Pollution Control Department and Harris County Attorney’s have reached out to the company and the Environmental Protection Agency to receive more information,” Hidalgo wrote.
The wastewater is being sent to Texas Molecular, which injects hazardous waste into the ground for disposal.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality told KTRK-TV that Texas Molecular “is authorized to accept and manage a variety of waste streams, including vinyl chloride, as part of their … hazardous waste permit and underground injection control permit.”
The company told KHOU-TV it is experienced in managing this type of disposal.
“Our technology safely removes hazardous constituents from the biosphere. We are part of the solution to reduce risk and protect the environment, whether in our local area or other places that need the capabilities we offer to protect the environment,” the company said.
The fiery Feb. 3 derailment in Ohio prompted evacuations when toxic chemicals were burned after being released from five derailed tanker rail cars carrying vinyl choride that were in danger of exploding.
“It’s … very, very toxic,” Dr. George Guillen, the executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston, said, but the risk to the public is minimal.
“This injection, in some cases, is usually 4,000 or 5,000 feet down below any kind of drinking water aquifer,” said Guillen, who is also a professor of biology and environmental science at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Both Guillen and Deer Park resident Tammy Baxter said their greatest concerns are transporting the chemicals more than 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) from East Palestine, Ohio; to Deer Park, Texas.
“There has to be a closer deep well injection,” Baxter told KTRK. “It’s foolish to put it on the roadway. We have accidents on a regular basis … It is silly to move it that far.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the derailment site Thursday, has warned the railroad responsible for the derailment, Norfolk Southern, to fulfill its promises to clean up the mess just outside East Palestine, Ohio, and help the town recover.
Buttigieg has also announced a package of reforms intended to improve rail safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, near the site of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — The crew operating a freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, did not receive a critical warning about an overheated axle until just before dozens of cars went off the tracks, federal safety investigators said in a report Thursday as U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site.
An engineer slowed and stopped the train after getting a “critical audible alarm message,” according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The crew then saw fire and smoke and alerted dispatch of a possible derailment, the report said.
The axle investigators are focused on had been heating up as the train went down the tracks, but did not reach the threshold for stopping the train and inspecting it until just before the derailment, the report said. The train was going about 47 mph (75 kph) at the time, just under the speed limit of 50 mph (80 kph), according to safety investigators.
Ohio Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told CNN ahead of the report’s release that its findings had the potential to form the basis of a criminal referral from the state. He also said railroad company Norfolk Southern should temporarily relocate people who continue to feel unsafe, or even consider buying their property.
“This is the railroad’s responsibility, and it’s up to the government officials at the federal, state and local levels to hold them accountable and do right by the citizens of East Palestine,” Husted said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has already made a criminal referral of Norfolk Southern to the state attorney general’s office.
NTSB released its preliminary findings as Buttigieg went on a tour of the crash site Thursday after getting criticized for not coming sooner, and amid mounting criticism of the overall federal response to the Feb. 3 derailment.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Buttigieg said he was “trying to strike the right balance” between showing support on the ground and allowing the safety board to take the lead in the early going.
He praised “the resilience, the resolve and the decency” of the community amid the impact of the disaster itself and the crush of media and political attention.
The Biden White House has defended its response to the train derailment, saying officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the transportation safety board and other agencies were at the rural site within hours of the derailment. The White House says it has also offered federal assistance and FEMA has been coordinating with the state emergency operations center and other partners.
Another Biden administration official, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, has been to East Palestine multiple times, most recently Tuesday as the EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for the cleanup.
Among those criticizing Buttigieg was former President Donald Trump, who came to Ohio on Wednesday. The Department of Transportation said Buttigieg is visiting now that the EPA has declared the emergency phase of the crash to be over and the start of long-term cleanup efforts is underway.
Asked Thursday about the Trump visit, Buttigieg said that if the former president felt strongly about increased rail safety efforts, “one thing he could do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch.”
He slammed Norfolk Southern and other freight rail companies for fighting regulations he said would “hold them accountable and the other railroad companies accountable for their safety record. What we’ve seen is the industry goes to Washington and gets their way.” He pressed Congress to act.
Heather Bable, who lives two blocks from the derailment site, said she’s relieved the government’s top brass is finally showing up.
“We need that attention because we weren’t getting it. They should have been here all along,” said Bable, who was among the throngs of residents lining the streets in pouring rain to welcome Trump on Wednesday.
The reception for Buttigieg was decidedly more muted, with little fanfare around the village of just under 5,000 residents. Trump won nearly 72% of the vote in this heavily Republican region in the 2020 election.
Buttigieg’s visit came nearly three weeks after more than three dozen freight cars — including 11 carrying hazardous materials — derailed on the East Palestine outskirts, near the Pennsylvania state line, prompting an evacuation as fears grew about a potential explosion of smoldering wreckage.
Officials seeking to avoid an uncontrolled blast intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending flames and black smoke high into the sky. That left people questioning the potential health effects even as authorities maintained they were doing their best to protect people.
As remediation of the site continued, Norfolk Southern announced late Wednesday it had agreed to excavate the soil under two tracks. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had called out the railroad company’s failure to address the contaminated soil underneath its tracks before repairing them and running freight again.
“Our original plan would have effectively and safely remediated the soil under our tracks. As I listened to community members over the past two weeks, they shared with me their concerns about that approach. I appreciate the direct feedback, and I am addressing it,” Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw said in a written statement.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, whose Pennsylvania district borders the East Palestine disaster site, asked Norfolk Southern to expand the boundaries of the geographic zone in which it is providing financial assistance and testing. He asserted the current zone excludes many affected Pennsylvania residents and businesses, and said the company should commit to cleaning up soil and water up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) beyond it.
“Norfolk Southern is failing to show any commitment to rebuilding lost trust in our community,” Deluzio wrote in a letter to Shaw. Providing additional resources “would help your company restore the sense of security that the Norfolk Southern train derailment and its aftermath destroyed.”
The president of the Ohio Senate, meanwhile, announced a public hearing on the derailment next week to hear testimony from state officials.
___
Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania and Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

On a cold and gloomy Wednesday at the Beaver County courthouse, the Beaver County Commissioners’ work session started on a sunny note as Treasurer Sandie Egley presented her annual report.

For the second consecutive year, Beaver County’s tax numbers are steadfastly positive. 95% of taxes were collected totaling $53.2 million dollars, paralleling the record rate from 2022. Additionally, the County gained $1.7 million in total interest over the year, including significant increases in bank interest. Over $1.1 million was gained through Premier Savings–up from $854,565 in 2022–and over $38,000 was gained through Huntington Bank, up from $2,824 in 2022.

Parks & Recreation director Tony Caltury also had something sunny to report, but not in a good way. “With the nice weather,” Caltury stated, “this Saturday’s Snow Shovel Riding Championship is looking bleak. We’ll make the official announcement on our social medias tomorrow about it, with the hopes of making it up the following Saturday on the 4th.”

Emergency Management Service director Eric Brewer spoke about the ongoing aftermath following the East Palestine train derailment, in which eighteen different agencies associated with Beaver County EMS assisted in resolving the initial situation. “Our staff is overwhelmed and tired,” Brewer stated, “however, I couldn’t ask for a better group.”

Brewer noted that because of the assistance to the train derailment, Beaver County lost twelve sets of Hazmat gear that will need to be replaced; early estimates have the cost for replacement gear at roughly $50,000. Brewer stated that the cost of replacing the gear should not fall on the taxpayers of Beaver County. “My goal is to get what Beaver County deserves out of this,” he added. “We’re not asking for more, but just compensated.”

Solicitor Garen Fedeles notified municipalities that were awarded ARPA funding for projects will be receiving letters shortly regarding the timeline for municipalities to spend the money and initiate projects. “That money has to be spent by 2024; what the county is looking for is for those projects to be initiated by no later than the end of this year,” Fedeles explained. “The rationale for that is if this money isn’t spent and the county needs time to reallocate it. So that way, if it isn’t used, we’d have to give it back to the U.S. Treasury.”

More letters in the form of tentative values for reassessed properties will be sent out in March, as county citizens will learn how much their property values will be following the multi-year process. “Those [letters] are going to be sent out in two different batches; one on March 17 and one on March 24,” Fedeles said. “If anyone has any questions or disagreements with it–remember, this is only a tentative value–there’s going to be a process that you would be able to meet with Tyler Technologies, who’s the company that handles the reassessment.”

The next Commissioners’ work session is scheduled for March 1 at 10:00 AM.

File – Spectators watch fire works during the World Wrestling Entertainment “WWE” Crown Jewel matches at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. WWE, an organization that is already king of the ring on social media, will attempt to expand its online presence this year with the $6.5 billion sports entertainment company talking about the possibility of putting itself up for sale. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

WWE, an organization that is already king of the ring on social media, will attempt to expand its online presence this year with the $6.5 billion sports entertainment company talking about the possibility of putting itself up for sale. WWE surpassed 20 million followers on its flagship TikTok account during its most recent quarter, the first sports league to do so, and is launching three international TikTok accounts after the WWE Español TikTok handle reached nearly 2 million followers in its first year. But the company’s presence online is broad. The company says its YouTube channel topped 92 million subscribers in the fourth quarter.

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine, a group of nine countries that make up the eastern flank of NATO, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, in Warsaw. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — President Joe Biden says Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” by suspending his country’s participation in the the last remaining U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty. In his first comments since Putin’s announcement Tuesday, Biden, who is in Poland to meet with NATO’s eastern flank allies, condemned the Russian decision to pull back from the treaty, known as New START. Biden spoke Wednesday in Warsaw as he was wrapping up his whirlwind, four-day visit to Poland and Ukraine.

This image provided by NASA and the European Space Agency shows images of six candidate massive galaxies, seen 500-800 million years after the Big Bang. One of the sources (bottom left) could contain as many stars as our present-day Milky Way, but is 30 times more compact (NASA via AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered what appear to be massive galaxies dating back to within 600 million years of the Big Bang. The findings suggest the early universe may have had a stellar fast-track that produced these monster galaxies. While the new James Webb Space Telescope has spotted even older galaxies during its first year of work, it’s the size and maturity of these six apparent mega-galaxies that stun scientists. That’s because they expected to find little baby galaxies so close to the dawn of the universe, not these whoppers. They reported their findings Wednesday.