Ohio companies will now perform all clean-up work done in East Palestine

NILES, Ohio (WOIO) - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Wednesday it is now a federal mandate that Ohio companies take care of any and all work done in East Palestine. where clean-up continues following the Feb. 3 toxic Norfolk-Southern train derailment.

Yost said this includes any future Norfolk-Southern projects in East Palestine.

On March 14, Yost announced the state filed a lawsuit against Norfolk-Southern for the train derailment.

Several days after the derailment, there was a controlled explosion of the five railroad cars carrying the chemical vinyl chloride.

The explosion caused a huge chemical plume and the chemicals were then directed into a ditch.

Overall, the lawsuit said the violations resulted in an untold volume of hazardous pollutants being released into the air, water and ground, posing substantial, long-term threats to human health and the environment.