Greater Cincinnati Water Works officials are continuing to monitor the chemical contaminants traveling down the Ohio River following the train derailment in East Palestine. Officials said GCWW shut the water intake from the Ohio River at 2 a.m. Sunday.
In a release sent Sunday afternoon, GCWW said in river samples collected upstream of GCWW intakes and analyzed Sunday morning, a compound called 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol was detected. This compound is commonly used in industrial applications including for flavorings and fragrances. The release went on to say that analyses of water drawn from GCWW’s intake have not indicated a detectable concentration of this compound.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure the water is safe,” said Jeff Swertfeger, GCWW superintendent of water quality. “Our intakes are shut down right now, so the intent to that is to allow that chemical to go by in the river and then we don’t even bring it into the plant.” GCWW uses granular activated carbon on a continuous basis to treat these types of compounds and has begun using powdered activated carbon as a precaution.