EPA’s inspector general found no malpractice in the agency’s deployment of key air detection technology in the aftermath of the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, two years ago.
The watchdog report, released Tuesday, is the result of an investigation into complaints from a whistleblower who said EPA delays in sending out its chemical sensor plane led to inaccurate data that could have prevented the “controlled burn” of the cancer-causing chemical vinyl chloride.
“The emails and documents we reviewed and the interviews we conducted did not support the allegations that the ASPECT [airborne spectral photometric environmental collection technology] aircraft did not follow normal Agency practice or the allegations that there was a several-day delay in activating ASPECT after the derailment,” the report says.
The report says the agency did follow “existing practices” but that the exact procedures “remain largely unknown to all involved stakeholders and lack the clarity needed to avoid negatively affecting decision-making related to an emergency response.”
