Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says East Palestine residents are safe as water, air testing continue after train derailment

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine repeated again Wednesday morning that East Palestine residents are safe in returning to their homes amid ongoing concerns after last week’s controlled release of chemicals in connection with the Norfolk Southern train derailment.

“We continue to test the air. We continue to test the water. We’ve done that, really, since the beginning,” Gov. DeWine said during an interview on MSNBC Wednesday morning one week since the area’s evacuation order was lifted. “Before we told them they could go back, we had readings that indicated the air was what it was before the train wreck even occurred.”

RELATED: What we can VERIFY about the East Palestine train derailment

Gov. DeWine then reiterated residents should only drink bottled water out of an abundance of caution as they continue testing water at different stages as it goes out toward the Ohio River.

“We got our first tests back from one of the wells last night,” Gov. DeWine said in the MSNBC interview, which you can watch in full below. “The test was fine. We would expect today or tomorrow to get the other well tests back. As soon as we get those back we’ll make that available to the public.”

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When asked if he would send his own family back home if they lived in East Palestine, Gov. DeWine said yes.

“We’re going to continue to test the air, we’re going to continue to test the water,” he said. “But what that is indicating is that it is very, very safe. We’re relying on the experts. The U.S. EPA has been in. The Ohio EPA has been in. Both the local health department, the state health department they’ve been there from the beginning. We’ve been as transparent as we can. We tell people exactly what we know.”

For those not feeling comfortable returning home, Gov. DeWine said the railroad has offered to pay for hotels.

“The railroad has said they’ll pay for anyone to stay in hotels,” he continued. “They have been doing that. If anyone has concerns they can continue to do that. The railroad is responsible for all of this. We’re going to hold them to that. Those are certainly options for people. I understand. If I had a family there, I understand people are concerned. What we’re trying to do, and have tried to do from the beginning, is just to make sure we’re giving them all of the information that we have.”