TeaEcological degradation due to a freight derailment train transporting toxic materials to rural areas ohio Ten days after the disaster is still being determined.
nearby 50 train coaches derailed on 3 February About 20 cars carrying the hazardous substance were involved in the small town in eastern Palestine.
Investigators said no one was killed by the axle breakage that caused the Norfolk Southern train to derail. More than 2,000 residents were evacuated due to health concerns over the chemical spill, but have since been allowed to return.
Some of the crashed cars contained toxic chemicals – vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether – which were released into the air, surface soil and surface water.
Five rail car tankers of vinyl chloride were deliberately broken up by the crews, and the substance was carried into a dug ditch. A controlled explosion was carried out to prevent an explosion, which caused a harmful black cloud to cover the entire area. One of the substances released was phosgene, a gas deployed as a chemical weapon in World War I.
Environmental remediation work was underway, with air, soil and water monitoring in coordination with state and federal agencies, Norfolk Southern reported last week. Regulators have said that so far the air quality has remained safe and drinking water supplies in surrounding communities have not been affected.
But in the ten days following the disaster, many troubling reports have emerged. Some residents have reported headaches and feeling sick, The Associated Press informed of,
East Palestine resident Melissa Henry told the AP how she took her two sons outside the evacuation zone to their parents’ home after her youngest boy’s “eyes turned red as tomatoes and he was coughing profusely”. Was taken
She said that since returning to her home, she had been doing laundry, cleaning and changing filters in the furnace.
“I don’t know if it will work or not, but we have to do something,” she said.
Vinyl chloride, which is used to make plastic pipe, wire and packaging, has been linked to an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer, hepatic angiosarcoma, along with primary liver cancer, brain and lung cancer, lymphoma and leukemia. cancer.gov Report.
A drone photo of the ongoing cleanup of parts of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
A resident of North Lima, Ohio, reported that her chickens died in the days following a chemical fire caused by a train derailment ten miles away.
(WKBN)
a resident in the city of northern Lima, about ten miles from train derailmenttold that his six Chicken’s Died in the days following the fire.
Amanda Breshears told a local TV station, “My video camera footage shows that my chickens were absolutely fine before they started burning, and as soon as they started burning, my chickens slowed down and they died.” WKBN27,
It wasn’t just reports of sick animals. Taylor Holzer, a registered foxkeeper living outside the evacuation perimeter, told WKBN That all his foxes were sick and one had died. Dead fish were also seen floating in local streams.
A legal notice sent to the train operator by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contained further details of the contamination.
Hazardous materials were found in samples taken from several waterways in the area – Sulfur Run, Leslie Run, Bull Creek, North Fork Little Beaver Creek, Little Beaver Creek and the Ohio River.
The EPA noted that material related to the incident was also entering storm drains. The agency also highlighted that areas of contaminated soil and free fluids were observed and potentially covered and/or filled during the reconstruction of the rail line.
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich criticized the EPA and state lawmakers for telling people it was safe to return to their homes while at the same time sending legal notices to rail operators over the threat of environmental pollution.
“That’s why people don’t trust the government,” he tweeted on Monday.
“You can’t tell people that dangerous pollutants are contaminating the environment and say ‘all is well’ at the same time.”
A water company in the neighboring state of West Virginia said on Sunday it would take precautionary measures regarding its water supply.
West Virginia American Water said there would be no change to its intake from the Ohio River, but the utility would install a secondary source on the Guandotte River, a tributary.
A lawsuit filed last week against Norfolk Southern seeks unspecified damages and demands that the railroad company pay for medical screenings and related care for residents within 30 miles of the train explosion.
The derailment has also raised questions about the continued use of rail transport to move large amounts of toxic and hazardous materials near communities.
Contamination crews place booms in a stream in East Palestine, Ohio, Thursday as cleanup continues after the Norfolk Southern freight train derailment
(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Rail unions believe the industry has become riskier in recent years after massive job cuts reduced the workforce AP informed of. Hazardous materials account for about 7-8 per cent of the 30 million shipments carried by the Railways across the country every year.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said, “It raises all kinds of questions.” fox and friends When asked whether the hazardous material is too dangerous to be transported by rail.
“We’ve seen this up close and personal over the past few days,” Gov. DeWine said. “It’s a big, big deal.”
On 6 July 2013, a 73-car freight train derailed in the center of the town of Lac-Mégantic in Quebec, Canada, resulting in a massive explosion. Some 47 people were killed and about half the city was burned down.
In February 2020, a landslide in Kentucky caused a freight train carrying ethanol to derail, causing a fire and spillage of the chemical into the river. A derailment in Graniteville, South Carolina, in 2005 killed nine people and injured more than 250, when toxic chlorine gases were released.
This article has been updated