4 years after Norfolk Southern derailment in Harmar Township, watchdog says cleanup is unfinished

Four years ago Tuesday, 17 Norfolk Southern trains derailed in Harmar Township, Allegheny County, spilling 3,000 gallons of non-flammable petroleum distillate into the Allegheny River.

The nonprofit Three Rivers Waterkeeper is claiming there's still a lot of work to do to make Pittsburgh's waterways safe.

If you ride out to the tributary called Guys Run, Captain Evan Clark, a waterkeeper with Tree Rivers Waterkeeper, will show you the oil sheen still in the water and even more signs of that train derailment off the boat.

"A lot of it spilled into the water," said Clark. He said cleanup crews used vacuum trucks, skimmers, and more. The teams started strong by removing plastic pieces and petroleum where the trains derailed.

"Nobody walked around and finished the job," Clark added.

After stepping off the boat at the derailment site, Clark said he easily found pieces of the train and plastic pellets that were carried inside the train cars that were left behind.

The nonprofit monitored the clean-up process in and around the river. But four years later, its executive director, Heather Hulton VanTassel, said she's concerned about the potential end of remediation efforts. 

Arcadis U.S. released the site's most recent "remedial investigation report," saying soil samples showed it did not surpass the statewide health standard. So, it proposed stopping groundwater and surface water monitoring, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection agreed.

"It's really easy to sample in the wrong locations or not enough locations," VanTassel said.

"Why do you think that's happening?" KDKA's Megan Shinn asked.

"Yeah, I think a lot of times it's just how fast can we get this done?" 

She explained that it's a concern to the nonprofit and should be to the community. 

"The Allegheny River does serve as a drinking water source. People swim, people fish, there's a lot of aquatic life. They rely on this area as well," VanTassel said.

Clark said the job isn't done, though, and ending groundwater and surface water monitoring does not make sense.

"Then, I'm sure that is what they're saying, but that doesn't actually show that there's not a ton of oil," he said.

Captain Clark said that, to his knowledge, the testing being done at this site is limited.

"You can't see a problem you're not looking for," Clark said.

He said he wants to see dredging at the bottom of the river, deeper digging, and soil testing from larger samples in the river itself. 

"That's not the scientific test, the scientific test is coming in and dredging some of that sediment out and testing that sediment," Clark said.

While VanTassel said to her knowledge, the entire clean-up report is not finished, they are applying pressure and informing the public in hopes the residual signs of a massive train derailment don't exist for years to come.

KDKA-TV reached out to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for comment and is awaiting a response.