Beaver County, surrounding area still questioning whether water is safe following train derailment

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Residents from Beaver County and other areas near the East Palestine train derailment site are worried chemicals from the cars have ended up in their drinking water and are questioning if it is safe to drink.

Officials on the federal, state and local levels are saying there are no concerns regarding the water and air quality in Pennsylvania.

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“From a Beaver County standpoint, we have not tests that shows there’s been any hazardous air and hazardous water issues,” said Beaver County commissioner Jack Manning.

Despite these claims, Governor Josh Shapiro said the state’s DEP will conduct independent water sampling to closely monitor any contamination risks. The governor discussed these tests with local leaders earlier this week.

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“The consensus with the meeting that we had with the state reps...I that we should do independent testing of the groundwater around the zone, not in the immediate zone, a couple miles away from the zone just to ensure we have a good baseline,” said Manning.

West View Water Authority which services communities in Allegheny and Butler Counties, like Cranberry and Ross Townships say there have been no signs of contamination.

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We asked some people in the community what concerns them the most.

“I’m concerned for the people in East Palestine, I don’t think we have a problem here in Beaver, our water source is completely different than what theirs would be,” said Chuck Copeland.

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