Whistleblower questions delays, mistakes in way EPA used sensor plane in East Palestine

by JOSH FUNK Associated PressIn this undated photo provided by Robert Kroutil shows the modified Cessna cargo plane that the EPA uses to help evaluate chemical disasters and fires, in Boston. A whistleblower has questioned why the plane wasn't deployed for days after the 2023 fiery Ohio derailment and gathered incomplete information. saster. But the plane didn’t fly over eastern Ohio until four days after the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment there last year.

Robert Kroutil said even when the plane did fly, it only gathered incomplete data. Then, when officials later realized some of the shortcomings of the mission, they asked the company Kroutil worked for, Kalman & Company, to draft plans for the flight and backdate them so they would look good if they turned up in a public records request, Kroutil said.

The Government Accountability Project that represents Kroutil and has been critical of EPA's response in East Palestine sent a sworn affidavit detailing his concerns to the EPA inspector general Tuesday and requested a formal investigation. The group provided a copy of the affidavit and Kroutil agreed to an interview with the AP ahead of time.

The agency said its “air monitoring readings were below detection levels for most contaminants, except for particulate matter” in the first two days after the derailment and “air monitoring did not detect chemical contaminants at levels of concern in the hours following the controlled burn.” Officials say data gleaned from more than 115 million readings since then doesn't show any “sustained chemicals of concern” in the air.

“The East Palestine derailment was the oddest response I ever observed with the ASPECT program in over two decades with the program,” said Kroutil, who helped develop the program when he worked for the Defense Department after the 9/11 attacks demonstrated the need for such airborne monitoring over New York.

ASPECT Plane East Palestine Derailment Kroutil Chemical Sensors Data Vent-And-Burn

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