OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt on Sunday said he rejected a shipment of toxic waste that was coming to Oklahoma from the site of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
In a series of tweets, Stitt said he was made aware Saturday that a shipment of toxic waste would be coming to the state as the Environmental Protection Agency works to clean up the Ohio site where a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed last month.
Stitt said he worked in concert with U.S. Sens. James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin to block the shipment late Saturday night.
“There are too many unanswered questions and ultimately I made the decision that this is not in the best interest of Oklahomans,” he tweeted.
Stitt did not specify how much toxic waste was en route to Oklahoma or where it was set to be delivered before he blocked the shipment.
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Lankford said Stitt was right to push back on the EPA, adding that the federal agency has not guaranteed the safety of Ohio residents amid the cleanup effort.
“There are too many unknowns for this proposal to shift hazardous waste from East Palestine, Ohio to Oklahoma,” Lankford said in a tweet.
The EPA is working to remove about 2 million gallons of contaminated liquids and hundreds of tons of soil from where a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio on Feb. 3. The derailment resulted in massive amounts of toxic chemicals being released into the air, soil and water.
Michigan and Texas have also rejected shipments of hazardous materials from the derailment site. Officials in several states have said they received no advance notice that they would be on the receiving end of shipments of hazardous waste.
The Biden administration, and by extension the EPA, has come under fire from critics for how it has handled the train derailment and cleanup efforts.
