Indiana Governor says toxic waste coming to Putnam County does NOT contain harmful levels of dioxins

By Mabel Lawler - May 15, 2023 Update for The DePauw

Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced the results of the third-party testing conducted on the toxic waste from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that is scheduled to be disposed of in a Putnam Country waste facility, in a statement on Wednesday.

Holcomb’s announcement comes a week after the governor called for the shipment of toxic waste to be halted until third-party testing could be conducted, and criticized the federal government’s decision to bring the toxic waste to Indiana, arguing that the hazardous materials should go to the “nearest facilities” instead of being shipped from “the far eastern side of Ohio to the far western side of Indiana.”

In his statement on Wednesday, Holcomb announced that the third-party test results revealed that the waste from the Ohio train derailment does not contain harmful levels of dioxins.

“These results indicate that the material tested does not contain any harmful levels of dioxins when compared to acceptable levels established by the EPA. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that the site operator is lawfully permitted to dispose of that material at its site,” said Holcomb.