RAPID: Monitoring microbial attenuation of toxins released following the East Palestine train derailment in Ohio

On February 3rd, 2023, a freight train derailment occurred in East Palestine in the State of Ohio. Following the train derailment, various hazardous chemicals, including butyl acrylate (BA), vinyl chloride (VC), and combustion by-products (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) from a ‘controlled burn’ of the remaining VC and BA in the train cars, were released into nearby soils, sediments, groundwater aquifer, and waterways including the Ohio River which serves a source of drinking water for more than 5 million people.

As of May 29, 2023, EPA and Norfolk Southern continue to 1) conduct air monitoring onsite and in the surrounding communities and 2) clean up the derailment site by excavating/disposing of contaminated soils and collecting/removing contaminated wastewater. This RAPID project will test the hypothesis that in contaminant-impacted areas, microbial communities will show measurable responses to the release of toxins, and that these responses could inform about contaminant degradation/detoxification processes and natural attenuation potential.

To test this hypothesis, the Principal Investigator (PI) and co-investigators from the University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville and the environmental consulting company Microbial Insights in Knoxville (TN) will collect and test soil, sediment, and groundwater samples from impacted areas and those not impacted by pollutants released during the East Palestine accident. Specifically, the project team proposes to combine measurements of biomarkers with complementary cultivation-based efforts of microorganisms that are known to degrade the classes/types of chemical pollutants that were released following the East Palestine train derailment.

The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of fundamental knowledge to guide and inform the design and implementation of effective pollutant remediation solutions at the East Palestine derailment site and in nearby communities. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of one graduate student and three undergraduate students at UT Knoxville.

Following the East Palestine train derailment, various hazardous chemicals, including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, other volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), etc. were released into nearby soils, sediments, groundwater aquifer, and waterways including the Ohio River. However, to date, there has been limited fundamental investigations of the fate and transformations of the hazardous chemicals that were released into the environment three months after the East Palestine accident.

The overarching goal of this RAPID project is to establish that microbial communities in impacted areas will show measurable responses, and that these responses could inform about contaminant degradation/detoxification processes and natural attenuation potential at the East Palestine accident site and in nearby soils, sediments, groundwater aquifer, and waterways. The specific objectives of the research are to 1) carry out time-series sampling of soils, sediments, and groundwater in impacted and non-impacted (background) areas, 2) conduct quantitative tracking of contaminant-degrading microorganisms, their dynamics, and their activities in response to the contamination, 3) design and conduct a targeted microcosm treatability study that demonstrates degradation of contaminants by indigenous microorganisms, and 4) synthesize the collected information and research findings to guide and inform the design of a site-specific monitoring program.

The successful completion of the proposed research has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new data and fundamental knowledge to guide the design and implementation of site-tailored monitoring protocols that could comprehensively assess the natural attenuation and contaminant degradation/detoxification potentials of indigenous microbiomes at the East Palestine site and in nearby communities.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.