WHEELING/STEUBENVILLE (WTRF) – It’s a tale of two cities and the conditions of their water after several chemicals spilled into the Ohio River following the East Palestine train derailment. 

Both Wheeling and Steubenville Water Departments received information from ORSANCO last week that a chemical called butyl acrylate was detected in raw Ohio River water samples. 

Both cities have assured that the finished, treated, drinking water going to residents does not contain this chemical and has been treated. 

Ohio city says butyl acrylate tested positive in water intake

Butyl acrylate is a chemical used to make plastics, and if ingested at certain amounts can be an irritant to the nasal passages. 

The Wheeling Water Department shut their plant down for 8 hours last Tuesday to let their plume go by their intake and enhancing treatment and turned it back on once they assured the water was treatable. 

”We have a GC-MS that we run every single day. We take samples three times a day to monitor the river, and we were taking samples every two hours just to make sure that we were actually seeing something. We haven’t seen anything in the river since last Thursday.”

Lori Seiburt – Superintendent, Wheeling Water Department

The situation is similar in Steubenville, as their water department also received this detection of butyl acrylate from ORSANCO and Ohio EPA and have researched the minimal risk level to a person’s health to be 560 ppb. 

Test results indicated a concentration of 12.5 ppb of butyl acrylate where Little Beaver Creek meets the Ohio River, making the concentration less once it reached Steubenville. 

Ohio city says butyl acrylate tested positive in water intake

Again, both Wheeling and Steubenville water departments assure residents that their water is safe.