Pennsylvania-based grocer Giant Eagle announced Tuesday that the company is pulling bottles of spring water sourced from a facility near East Palestine from store shelves out of caution. The company said there is no evidence that the Feb. 3 train derailment impacted the water.
The company stated in a news release that select varieties of Giant Eagle brand spring water in gallon-size bottles and larger are sourced from a facility in Salineville, Ohio, 25 miles southwest of East Palestine.
Giant Eagle has learned that the water used in this facility comes from a protected spring that is at a higher elevation than East Palestine and is not near water sources impacted by the Norfolk Southern train derailment.
The facility also informed Giant Eagle that a third-party lab has been regularly testing the Salineville facility’s raw water sources and finished products and has not found any evidence the water has been negatively impacted by Feb. 3 incident.
“As we continue to receive these assurances from our Salineville water vendor, we also recognize that regional and national health officials continue to send resources to East Palestine to learn as much as possible about the potential impact to the health of the community,” Giant Eagle representatives stated in the news release. “Out of an abundance of caution, Giant Eagle has made the decision to remove all gallon-size-or-greater Giant Eagle brand spring water product sourced from the Salineville facility from our store shelves until further notice while we continue to evaluate ongoing testing and potential impacts to the spring source.”
Giant Eagle has locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland.
On Tuesday, U.S. EPA Director Michael Regan returned to East Palestine, and before holding a news conference, visited the home of concerned resident Carolyn Brown and sampled her tap water, along with Gov. Mike DeWine and U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson.
Regan announced Tuesday that the EPA is ordering Norfolk Southern to conduct a cleanup of contaminated soil and water resources near the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The EPA also ordered Norfolk Southern to reimburse the EPA for cleaning services that will be offered to residents and businesses. These cleaning services will be conducted by the EPA and government contractors.
This article was written by Ian Cross for WEWS.
