The Effects of a Chemically Detected Airfield on East Palestine, Ohio, Aftermath of an Explanation of Residents’ Concerns

Weeks after a major train derailment and controlled explosion of chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, residents have been encouraged to return home. But many questions remain about how the train derailed and what the lingering chemical exposure could be in residents’ air and water.

We worry that the aftermath of smoke particles and unburned gas in East Palestine might have created a mixture of high toxicity for miles around the area and hidden dangers for the people who live and work there.

The evacuation order was lifted on Feb. 8. Since then, some residents in the area have complained of health problems, such as headaches and nausea, and many have expressed concerns over possible contamination of the air and water supply.

Some business owners and residents in East Palestine have filed lawsuits against Norfolk Southern claiming the company was negligent and must pay for court-ordered medical screenings for people who may be caused by exposure to chemicals.

As of Sunday, the Environmental Protection Agency had found no levels of concern in East Palestine.

The agency added that vinyl chloride and hydrogen chloride have not been detected in the 291 homes that have been screened as of Monday. There are more than 125 homes left in the voluntary indoor air screening program.

Breathing or drinking vinyl chloride can cause a number of health risks including dizziness and headaches. People who breathe a chemical for a long time may have some damage to their bodies.

When vinyl chloride is exposed in the environment, it breaks down from sunlight within a few days and changes into other chemicals such as formaldehyde. The Ohio Department of Health says the chemical will evaporate into the air quickly if it’s spilled.

The EPA monitors for several hazardous chemicals, including phosgene and hydrogen chloride, which can be released by burning vinylchloride. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to phosgene and hydrogen chloride can cause symptoms such as eye irritation, dry burning throat and vomiting.

Update: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has detected no vinyl chloride in the down-gradient waterways around the site of the Cincinnati Underground train wreck

The Ohio State University professor that studies indoor air quality said that people are going to be concerned about the long-term exposure that comes at lower levels.

She added that indoor spaces can be an important point of exposure, which is why she urges East Palestine residents to take part in EPA’s at-home air screening.

Residents are urged to clean and wash their belongings, especially furniture that contains dust and curtains that absorb odors. She also advises vacuuming carefully in short bursts to try to prevent contaminants from moving into the air.

After the alert of an overheating aaxle, the engineer applied the brakes on the train. “During this deceleration, the wheel bearing failed,” Homendy explained. “Car 23 derailed, and the train initiated an emergency brake application and came to a stop.”

The wheelset will be subjected to a metallurgy examination as part of the investigation. When the tank cars have been fully decontaminated, investigators will return to complete their examination.

There are two local businesses that filmed glowing or flames from the train prior to it’s derailing, according to local media.

If it is true, Congress needs to look at how these things are handled. DeWine said that we should know when there are trains carrying hazardous material.

In an update Tuesday, investigators said that no vinyl chloride has been detected in any of the down-gradient waterways around the site of the train wreck.

In his Thursday update, Ohio’s governor said the latest lab results continue to show “no detection of contaminants” tied to the derailment in the municipal water and results from private water system tests also show no harmful levels of contaminants.

What Kavalec described as “fire combustion chemicals” did flow to the Ohio River, “but the Ohio River is very large, and it’s a water body that’s able to dilute the pollutants pretty quickly,” she said.

The Ohio EPA has been watching the chemicals in real time. It’s believed to be moving about a mile an hour, Kavalec said.

The majority of the chemicals could pass if the drinking water intakes were closed. This strategy, along with drinking water treatment…are both effective at addressing these contaminants and helps ensure the safety of the drinking water supplies,” Kavalec said, adding that they’re pretty confident that the “low levels” of contaminants that remain are not getting passed onto customers.

Still, authorities are strongly recommending that people in the area use bottled water for drinking, especially if their water is from a private source, such as a well.

How safe is transportation? The consequences of the Ohio rail accident data released by EPA/OEC, and their implications for air quality, highways, and rivers

I am still afraid about the health of our rivers and streams, despite the state’s confirmation that contaminated water killed 3,500 fish after the train wreck.

After testing the fish and sampling them, the estimation of the dead fish came to light. The number of fish killed appeared to be stable since the first couple of days after the accident.

Kurt Kollar, the on- scene commander for the Ohio EPA’s Office of Emergency Response, said the dirt pits in question measure about 700 feet long and 8 feet deep.

When asked about anecdotal reports of people getting headaches and sore throats, and of animals, such as cats and chickens, dying near the train derailment, Ohio Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said that air quality does not appear to be the source.

“Anecdotes are challenging because they’re anecdotes,” Vanderhoff said. Everything we have gathered thus far is pointing toward very low readings.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, railroads are considered the safest mode of transportation for carrying large amounts of hazardous materials.

“It’s the mode of transportation that’s capable of moving bulk quantities,” Federal Rail Administration spokesperson Warren Flatau told CNN. The alternatives of moving these items by truck over the highways are not looked upon favorably.

Even though federal and industry statistics show that rail is a safer way to carry hazardous materials than truck or plane, spills and leaks still happen.

“The real issue is the risk of derailment and explosion,” Kimberly Garrett, a researcher and PFAS expert at Northeastern University. It would be a catastrophe if natural gas was to go off like vinyl chloride.

Water Monitoring Wells Near East Palestine, Ohio During the Decay of a Fragment Train Contaminant in a Village with Chemical Hazards

“This is so critically important to moving on to next steps. We can now excavate additional contaminated soil and began installing monitoring wells,” Vogel said. The Ohio EPA will install water monitoring wells at the site of the derailed train to measure contaminants in the water below.

Whelton told CNN the EPA should keep an eye on semi-volatile organic compounds, which are more persistent in nature and can be detected in local waterways.

Whelton said that their size makes them not go in the air as quickly. “They like to stick to soils and other materials. How contaminated is the creek and how are they going to clean it up?

There were anecdotal reports of animals dying, but they haven’t been confirmed by officials. Mary Mertz, the Director of Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources, said there is no evidence that non-aquatic species have been affected by the spill.

Kurt Kollar, the on-scene coordinating officer for the Ohio EPA’s Office of Emergency Response, said crews excavated and removed nearly 500 yards ofvinylchloride-impacted material. The EPA is also blocking off ditches around the contaminated dirt so that it doesn’t contaminate more water.

As for drinking water, Kavalec said water treatment facilities should be able to remove the remaining low levels of volatile organic compounds in the water, and that the water will eventually be safe to drink.

The pollutants should break down with treatment of the water and aeration, but environmental officials need to test for the type of chemicals used to extinguish chemical fires.

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment packed a school gym on Wednesday to seek answers about whether they were safe from toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off.

Officials have repeatedly assured residents that tests show no dangers lurking in the air or water. The EPA said that crews have not found any dangerous levels of contaminants in homes they checked.

Norfolk Southern, which didn’t attend the gathering because of safety concerns, had a lot of questions residents had regarding health hazard and they demanded more transparency.

In a statement, Norfolk Southern said it was not attending Wednesday’s open house gathering with local, state and federal officials because of a “growing physical threat to our employees and members of the community around this event.”

The Pennsylvania Public Works Works Commission Commission on Public Works, Water Conservation and Cleansing: A Public Hearing on the Hush-Hush Effect in East Palestine

Wednesday’s meeting came amid continuing concerns about the huge plumes of smoke, persisting odors, questions over potential threats to pets and wild animals, any potential impact on drinking water and what was happening with cleanup.

“Why are they being hush-hush?” Kathy Dyke said of the railroad. “They’re not out here supporting, they’re not out here answering questions. For three days we didn’t even know what was on the train.”

In and around East Palestine, near the Pennsylvania state line, residents said they wanted assistance navigating the financial help the railroad offered hundreds of families who evacuated, and they want to know whether it will be held responsible for what happened.

Yost said in a letter to the company that the pollution caused harm to the environment and caused a nuisance around East Palestine.

I authorized testing of all of the wells on the Pennsylvania side to make sure that local residents have the confidence in knowing what is in the water. We are continuing to test for many months and even years if necessary, despite no concerning readings yet.

Norfolk Southern announced Tuesday that it is creating a $1 million fund to help the community of some 4,700 people while continuing remediation work, including removing spilled contaminants from the ground and streams and monitoring air quality.

“It is my view that Norfolk Southern wasn’t going to do this out of the goodness of their own heart. There’s not a lot of goodness in there,” Shapiro said. They needed to be made to act.

An East Palestine EPA Administrator Declares that the Railroad Company was Responsible for the Derailment of a Class 0 Train Contaminant

Misinformation and exaggerations spread online, and state and federal officials have repeatedly offered assurances that air monitoring hasn’t detected any remaining concerns. Even low levels of contaminants that aren’t considered hazardous can create lingering odors or symptoms such as headaches, Ohio’s health director said Tuesday.

The head of the US Environmental Protection Agency traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, on Thursday and said the agency plans to hold the train company Norfolk Southern accountable for its role in the derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals earlier this month.

The EPA Administrator said in aCNN interview Thursday that he has the authority to use its enforcement powers during the crisis.

Regan said that the company had signed a notice of accountability, which indicated they would be responsible for the clean up. “But as this investigation continues, and as new facts arise, let me just say, and be very clear, I will use the full enforcement authority of this agency, and so will the federal government, to be sure that this company is held accountable.”

The concern for everyone is the fact that many of the people don’t have municipal water supplies and rely on wells. And I think their biggest concern is: over time, are the chemicals that were dissipated throughout all this getting into the waterways? Are they ever going to make it into the well water?

Hundreds of East Palestine residents attended a town hall Wednesday night to express their distrust. The train operator had agreed to attend but later pulled out of the event due to safety concerns.

The Railroad Derailment Site as an Environmental Contaminant Contamination Resuscitated by the EPA, Sent. Michael Regan

The agency’s move comes as the emergency response effort has now morphed into an environmental cleanup that is the responsibility of the railroad, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said during a Tuesday press conference.

Requests for medical experts from the federal government have been granted and DeWine says officials should arrive next week to help prop up a clinic for patients.

In anticipation of rainfall, emergency response teams have plans in place to prevent contaminants not yet removed from the derailment site from washing into local waterways during the storms, DeWine said in a statement.

DeWine said that the Ohio Department of Agriculture has assured the public that the food supply is safe, and the risk to livestock is low after the train wreck.

“I am afraid of death,” Mayor Trent Conaway told reporters at the New York Public Works Commission on telecommunications (PPC) Tuesday evening

Is it okay to be here? Are my kids safe? Are the people safe? Is the future of the community safe? East Palestine resident Lenny Glavan told reporters at the meeting. “We all know the severity of that question, and what’s at stake. Let’s find out if some people are downplaying or not.

“There (were) two options: We either detonate those tanks, or they detonate themselves,” Mayor Trent Conaway told a group of reporters at Wednesday’s meeting. “Yes, harmful chemicals went into the air. I am truly sorry, but that is the only option we had. They were going to blow up if we didn’t do that.

Conaway told reporters that he needed help. “I have the village on my back, and I’ll do whatever it takes … to make this right. I’m not leaving, I’m not going anywhere.”

The Sacramento, Ohio, Occupational Rail Safety Commission (Ohio) Train Derailmenteast Palestine Thursday (May 24th, 2019)

“I want the community to know that we hear you, we see you, and that we will get to the bottom of this,” Regan said. We are testing for all volatile organic chemicals. We are testing for anything that was on that train. We arecasting a net wide enough to show a picture that will protect the community.

“We have become increasingly concerned about the growing physical threat to our employees and members of the community around this event stemming from the increasing likelihood of the participation of outside parties,” the company said in a release.

The company didn’t show up for the meeting because it was a slap in the face, according to the man who lives less than half a mile from where the train derailed.

Velez and his family are temporarily staying away from the town. He previously told CNN that when he visited the town Monday, a chemical odor left his eyes and throat burning, and gave him a nagging headache.

“Most people did not want to go home, but they had to. So, all the people who had to go home were complaining of smells, pains in their throat, headaches, sickness,” he said. The smell makes me sick when I go back a few times. It hurts your head.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-thursday/index.html

The East Palestine Chemical Steepstench: Amenable to New Scientists, Residents, and Transportation Health Concerns After the East Palestine Derailment

“I was extremely disappointed that they didn’t show up at the town hall meeting last night. The public deserves transparency,” he said. The public needs to have the most up to date information. I promise you that we’ll hold this company accountable, because our job is to hold this company accountable.

Jami Cozza’s family has lived in East Palestine for generations near the contaminated creek, but right now she is staying at a hotel paid for by the railroad due to toxicity from the derailment.

Cozza told Don Lemon she was told that it was safe to return home after air testing. She demanded the railroad company conduct tests on the soil and water, and then had a toxicologist come and look at her house.

Had Cozza not spoken, he would have stayed in the house, when they told him it was safe.

Reflecting the fundamental mistrust residents have in the railroad company Norfolk Southern and the government, Ms. Guglielmo is one of several people who live in the region who are seeking independent tests or are looking for ways to conduct their own.

But Ms. Guglielmo and others, particularly on the outskirts of East Palestine near where the train collided, continue to report a lingering stench of chemicals in some parts of town and have found little comfort in the assurances in light of the rashes and headaches they have experienced.

The threat of possible long-term exposure to the chemical cocktail released into the air and water, coupled with a deep fear that the town and its neighboring villages will be forgotten in the coming months, has also left many residents feeling as if they are on their own to prove that it is safe to remain or return through means that include paying out of pocket for their own tests. Some have become novice chemists, rattling off the names and effects of chemical compounds that had no meaning to them two weeks ago.

The freight disaster in East Palestine is causing a lot of concern among community members who are concerned about the possible health effects of the toxic materials released when dozens of cars derailed.

The Norfolk Southern Railroad Accident in East Palestine, Pennsylvania, Dec. 17, 2015, Atmospheric Response to CNBC Critics and Public Health Issues

Under the legally binding order, Norfolk Southern must identify and clean up contaminated soil and water resources, pay for the costs of work performed by the EPA and reimburse the agency for additional cleaning services offered to residents and businesses.

He will hold the company accountable for their actions, as Norfolk Southern injected unnecessary risk into the crisis.

“We recognize that we have a responsibility, and we have committed to doing what’s right for the residents of East Palestine,” the company said Tuesday.

The company has committed more than $6 million to date in East Palestine, it said, including $3.8 million in direct financial assistance to families impacted by the accident.

In an interview with CNBC, CEO Alan Shaw responded to criticisms from Pete Buttigieg and Ohio Sen., saying that the company invests over $1 billion a year in safety solutions.

“It’s pretty clear that our safety culture and our investments in safety didn’t prevent this accident,” Shaw said. We need to look at this and see what can be done differently.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro praised the EPA for taking charge of the cleanup from the crash, which took place less than a mile from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

Shaw declined to discuss the potential causes in the CNBC interview. He also said Norfolk Southern is fully cooperating with the NTSB and the Federal Railroad Administration to determine the cause.

The EPA said tests of public drinking water in East Palestine have found no indication of risk to the public, while treated drinking water has no sign of the contaminants associated with the train wreck.

The governor of Ohio said that a health clinic had been opened in East Palestine for residents who might have health issues from the train wreck.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection urged the public to stop drinking and drinking in the Village of East Palestine after the February 3 Derailment

“This is really in response to the concerns that we have heard, that people want to be able to go someplace and get some answers about any kind of medical problems that they believe that they are, in fact, having,” he said.

More than four million gallons of liquid and solid waste have been pulled from the site of the derailment according to the office of DeWine.

President Joe Biden echoed the sentiment Tuesday, calling the EPA’s order “common sense.” “This is their mess. The president commented on Norfolk Southern’s condition in an IG post.

The governor of Pennsylvania said that state environmental officials made a criminal referral to Norfolk Southern. The Ohio attorney general is also reviewing all actions the law “allows him to take,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.

Air and water quality testing has so far found no dangers to residents of the small village near the Pennsylvania border after the February 3 derailment, and Regan said he has “absolute confidence” in the agency’s data.

East Palestine residents who don’t have their private well tested for water are encouraged to drink bottled water out of an abundance of caution.

Pennsylvania’s governor – who also ordered evacuations after the derailment – alleged Tuesday that the train operator gave officials “inaccurate information” and “refused to explore or articulate alternative courses of action,” in the days following the toxic wreck.

The Norfolk Southern Railroad Company and the East Palestine Project: Reports of Ruins, Scintillations and Other Effective Measurements

Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw said that his company has been aligned with the EPA and local efforts on the ground in East Palestine since the train derailment.

Shaw said that his company continues to monitor air and water quality and has conducted hundreds of tests with thousands of data points, “all of which have come back clean.”

The accident that upended life in the community has led to calls for better rail safety and questions about laws regarding the movement of toxic substances.

President Biden called on Congress to help implement rail safety measures and accused the Trump administration of limiting the government’s ability to strengthen rail safety measures.

Biden wrote in his post that this was more than a train wreck and it was time for safety measures to come home to roost.

And roughly 1,400 tons of solid waste have been removed from the derailment site and taken to sites in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, according to the release.

The analysis stirs fresh concerns for East Palestine, a village of 5,000 struggling to understand the full breadth of consequences from the freight train wreck and subsequent burn-off of toxic vinyl chloride.

Still, as worries remain, the state opened a new health clinic for East Palestine residents to address the reports of rashes, headaches, nausea and other symptoms.

The EPA administrator was asked about the reported symptoms and he said that he was not prejudiced and asked anyone concerned to seek medical attention.

People say they are facing adverse impacts. And what we’re doing is we’re asking them to seek medical attention … then we can take that information and add that as part of our response,” Regan said. “We’re not discounting what people are experiencing at all. We just ask that they seek medical help while we conduct all of our investigations.”

At a news conference Tuesday, Conaway said that the town needs to be cleaned up and residents need to feel safe in their homes. “That’s the number one thing. If you don’t feel safe in your home, then you’re never going to feel safe anywhere.

What am I hearing about Nicholas Proia? What he’s telling us about the train wreck of the Sulphur Run and the Leslie Run

Who is he? Nicholas Proia is a pulmonologist in the area and a clinical professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, not far from East Palestine.

What are they saying? Proia said that he had not experience the rise in patients caused by the train wreck, but that he did expect it to happen.

Respiratory illness hasn’t been seen much by us. Most of the time we’ve heard from the media, and a few patients will say something like a rash or a foul smell. But really no overt shortness of breath, or respiratory failure has been connected to this.

It is also a caveat to remember that you will only find what you are looking for. After a large fire with a lot of interesting chemicals, who knows what else is out there.

The EPA has contractors that install booms and underflow dams that restrict the flow of water and contain and collect floating product in order to minimize the potential impacts to the Sulphur Run and Leslie Run streams.

The East Palestine Train Derailment Timeline: Public Air Screening, Water Treatment, and Amerifiltration for a Community-based Air Treatment Plant

Officials issue a shelter-in-place order for the entire town of roughly 5,000 people. There is a risk of explosion due to the train crash and an order has been issued to evacuate the area.

EPA is assisting with voluntary residential air screening appointments offered by Norfolk Southern, the agency says. At least 46 homes have been screened for indoor air quality. More than 400 requests for indoor air screening remain.

NTSB conducts a one-mile walkthrough of track outside the hot zone and identifies the point of derailment. Graham says the preliminary report is expected in four to eight weeks.

Three aeration pumps begin to operate at different locations along the run. Oxygen is injected into the water. The East Palestine water treatment plant confirms there was no adverse effects to the plant, the EPA says. EPA and Norfolk Southern contractors collect surface water samples for analysis.

The EPA continues to work with Norfolk Southern, the health departments, and other agencies to develop safe procedures for safely reoccupying evacuated areas.

The EPA advises people in the vicinity to beware of odors that could come from the controlled burn because the byproducts can be much less noxious than the hazardous materials it’s supposed to clean up.

The EPA says it is investigating a complaint of odors from the Darlington Township, Pennsylvania, fire station. A team of people with air monitoring equipment goes to the station, where they will not see any pollutants above detection limits.

The EPA and Ohio EPA can smell spilled materials. A leaking oil product is pooling on the ground. Norfolk Southern is notified of the spill and begins removing the product using a vacuum truck.

Some residents still have concerns despite officials deeming the air and water samples safe. At a press conference, officials say that residents should seek medical attention if necessary and get their homes deep cleaned.

The EPA discontinued community air monitoring. There was a chance of vinyl chloride fire causing phosgene and hydrogen chloride but that threat has been removed after February 8. EPA will continue 24-hour community air monitoring for other chemicals of concern.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/us/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-timeline/index.html

Environmental Protection and Health Care for East Palestine after the February 17 Flooding: State of the Art and Public View on DeWine’s Concerns

The residents of East Palestine gathered in the high school gym for a meeting with officials to discuss the current state of their community, CNN reported.

Instead, local leaders take questions from emotional residents who expressed distrust of officials’ accounts and anger – including at the transport company’s decision to skip the event.

Regional Administrator Debra Shore is in attendance at a community meeting to hear residents’ concerns.

“Contaminated soil will continue (to) leech contaminants, both up into the air, and down into the surrounding ground,” Richard Peltier, an environmental health scientist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, tells CNN in an email. New contaminants will enter the system every time it rains.

Feb. 17 — Gov. Mike DeWine says no derailment contaminants have been found in homes tested for air quality and that there is a section of Sulfur Run near the crash site that remains severely contaminated.

The train operator was ordered to stop shipments by the EPA because of the controversy surrounding the crash that has left residents worried about long-term health effects.

This community is in dire need of access to good health care. We have learned that a health clinic will be opened this week and that residents who have complained about health issues in the aftermath of the disaster will have their symptoms monitored. It’s regrettable that this step is being taken more than two weeks after the derailment.

• Reimburse the EPA for cleaning services to be offered to residents and businesses to provide an additional layer of reassurance, which will be conducted by EPA staff and contractors,

Investigating the February 3 Penny Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Following a Criminal Referral from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office says it will investigate the train derailment following a criminal referral it received from the state department of environmental protection, according to a statement from the office.

They will fully pay for it, number two. If they refuse to do anything, we will do the cleaning up ourselves. The EPA chief said that they could fine them up to $70,000 a day.

“And when we recoup our total costs, we can charge them three times of the amount of the cost of the federal government. That is what the law provides.”

The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released its preliminary report on the investigation into the February 3 train crash in East Palestine, Ohio, where residents have been complaining about feeling sick after hazardous chemicals seeped into the air, water and soil.

One wheel bearing’s temperature reached a “critical” level — 253 degrees Fahrenheit above the ambient temperature — and prompted an audible alarm that instructed “the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle,” the report says.

So far, the investigation found the crew did not do anything wrong prior to the derailment, though the crash was “100% preventable,” Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the safety board, said last week.

Plus, investigators will review the train operator’s use of wayside defect detectors and the company’s railcar inspection practices. Homendy said that determining what caused the failure of the wheel bearing will be key to the investigation.

The East Palestine train crash happened february 3: An easterly commuter’s frustrated voice echoed by a long-term resident

Some East Palestine residents have said they’re having headaches, dizziness, nausea, and bloody noses, which they didn’t have before the crash.

The 149-car train operated by Norfolk Southern on February 3 had three employees on board: a locomotive engineer, a conductor and a trainee who were all in the head end of the locomotive, Homendy told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday.

“We are very deliberative. Homendy said that they are the gold standard when it comes to investigations around the world. “But if we see a safety issue that we need to be addressed immediately, something systemic, we will not hesitate to issue an urgent safety recommendation.”

Residents were frustrated as they said officials dodged their questions, worsening their distrust of the clean-up process.

Shaw spoke with Jim Stewart, a lifelong resident of East Palestine who told him that his health was in danger because of the crash.

Did you shorten my life? I would like to be able to retire and enjoy it. How are we going to enjoy it? Stewart, addressing Shaw, said that you burned him. You have made me angry.

Shaw would not answer questions about the crash investigation or details about what could have caused it, saying he was forbidden from doing so.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-friday/index.html

The Norfolk Southern Environmental Emergency Medical Center (ECHO) Report on Washington, D.C., May 13 / C.E. Shaw

“We’re going to get the cleanup right, we’re going to reimburse the citizens, we’re going to invest in the long-term health of this community,” Shaw said. We are going to be here, and I will see this through. We are going to work with the community leaders to help you thrive.

Norfolk Southern has already implemented new internal safety measures, Shaw said, adding the company will review the results of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation.

Editor’s Note: Ericka L. Copeland is the chapter director of Sierra Club Ohio and former two-term president of the Cincinnati Public Schools’ Board of Education. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.

Three weeks after a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed, East Palestine still hasn’t gotten the answers they’d like.

There is a memo from the Department of Environmental Protection and its Department of Health from Pennsylvania which states that residents may be at risk of inhaling chemicals caused by vacuuming inside their homes.

Meanwhile, across the border in Ohio, residents say they received no immediate information from state authorities on how to clean the interiors of their homes.

The Safety of East Palestine and the Environmental Protection Act (MSA): Why East Palestine is not a Hazardous Country for Railroads, nor is it a State of Emergency

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg called on the railroad industry to do more to implement higher safety standards as he toured East Palestine on Thursday. The head of the federal EPA, Michael Regan, toured the scene for a second time on Tuesday, aiming to assure residents that they could feel confident about the testing and cleanup efforts currently underway in their town. Skeptics remain, and I count myself among them.

Butyl acrylate is not currently being detected by ORSANCO, probably due to its volatile nature and the fact that it is dilation and chemical breakdown. But levels are likely below the limits of the water tests. Government scientists did not detect volatile chemicals in the river samples.

The residents of East Palestine could see health impacts in the future, but it might not be noticed today.

Eric Beckman, the co-founder of the Mascaro Center for sustainable innovation and a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, said last week that what transpired in East Palestine amounts to an uncontrolled chemical reaction.

Ohio Gov. DeWine has yet to issue a disaster declaration. If the circumstances warrant it, the spokesman for the governor might revisit the idea. Meanwhile residents of East Palestine continue to be exposed to these toxic chemicals and are forced to pay out of pocket for hotel lodgings while he delays his decision.

As the community of East Palestine and other towns downstream along with our nation’s other communities through which trains carrying highly volatile hazardous chemicals need our support right now, we need to ensure safety measures are put in place.

These communities were unprepared for this disaster. Every person living in this country, regardless of zip code, income or race, has the right to live safely in their communities without the risk of toxic chemicals polluting their air, water and soil.

When their community is being used as a thoroughfare for hauling cargo across hundreds of miles of railway tracks, then that should be the case.

Transportation of hazardous waste out of East Palestine, Ohio, after the Cleveland-Jacobi-Oklahoma-Collision-State-Wise-Environment Collision

The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered shipments of hazardous waste out of East Palestine, Ohio, to stop after complaints from residents and officials in other states where the toxic material was headed.

“We instructed Norfolk Southern to pause but only temporarily because we wanted to make sure they didn’t do anything that would harm the environment,” Shore said.

“Moving forward, waste disposal plans, including disposal location and transportation routes for contaminated waste, will be subject to federal EPA review and approval,” she noted.

Michigan’s Debbie Dingell said they were not given a heads up on the reported action. “Our main goal is to keep the people we represent safe.”

Across the country, Texas Chief Executive Lina Hidalgo expressed frustration that she first learned about the expected water shipments to her state from the news media – not from a government agency or Texas Molecular, the company hired to dispose of the water.

According to the governor, over two million gallons of liquid wastewater have been removed from East Palestine. That waste has been shipped to sites in Ohio, Texas and Michigan to be “disposed of through deep well injection,” the release said.

Shore said she believed all the disposal facilities that Norfolk Southern had used were “up to the standards,” but that the EPA was reviewing the transportation routes and facilities in response to residents’ concerns.

She said it was important to the residents of East Palestine as well as those in the communities where the waste might go to ensure the process was done right.

“We know it’s far better to have it safely stored in a properly constructed and monitored disposal facility than to have it remain here any longer than necessary when there are licensed, regulated disposal facilities available that routinely dispose of similar waste,” Shore said during the Saturday press conference in East Palestine. “At the same time I know there are folks in other states with concerns – legitimate concerns – about how this waste is being transported and how it is being disposed of.”

The officials in Texas and Michigan did not know that hazardous waste from the crash would be sent to them for disposal.

The Michigan and Ohio facilities were, in fact, EPA approved sites, but they are not currently accepting any more shipments at this time, and the EPA is “exploring to see whether they have the capacity” to accept shipments in the future, Shore said.

Statewide Cleanup of the Ohio Derailment Site: Water Labeling, Packing and Handling Requirements, and Implications for Disease Control and Prevention

All rail cars, except for 11 held by investigators, have been removed from the site of the derailment, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Anne Vogel said in an update Sunday.

“These extensive requirements cover everything from waste labeling, packaging, and handling, as well as requirements for shipping documents that provide information about the wastes and where they’re going,” Shore said.

Texas Molecular told CNN it had been hired to dispose of potentially dangerous water from the Ohio train wreck. The company said they had experts with decades of experience in managing water safely, and all shipments so far had come by truck.

The federal teams are going door to door in East Palestine to check in with residents, conduct surveys and give out information, after President Joe Biden directed the move, a White House official told CNN.

Also, a 19-person scientific team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been collecting information from residents about symptoms they have experienced since the derailment, said Jill Shugart, a senior environmental health specialist for the CDC.

The EPA also installed “sentinel wells” near the city’s municipal well field to monitor contaminants in well water as part of the agency’s long-term early detection system “to protect the city for years to come,” Vogel, head of the Ohio EPA, said Saturday.

About 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste remained Saturday in storage on site in East Palestine – not including the five truckloads returned, according to DeWine. Solid and liquid waste are being generated as the clean up progresses.

Dingell told CNN on Saturday that neither she nor Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were aware of plans for toxic waste to be delivered to disposal sites in her district.

Transportation of the Waste Material from a Toxicity Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, is on the Way for the People of East Liverpool

Hidalgo said Texas Molecular told her office Thursday that half a million gallons of the water was already in the county and the shipments began arriving around last Wednesday.

Hidalgo’s office had been seeking information about the disposal, including the chemical composition of the firefighting water, the precautions that were being taken, and why Harris County was the chosen site, she said.

CNN asked the Ohio agency the location of the remaining 581,500 gallons which had been “removed” but not “hauled off-site” and has yet to receive a response.

After a brief pause, shipments of contaminated liquid and soil from the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, will resume Monday amid concerns – including from other states – about the movement of the hazardous waste.

The hazardous waste material already sent to Michigan and Texas is now being processed, EPA regional administrator Debra Shore said at a news conference Sunday.

The mayor of EastLiverpool, who is one of the towns that will be burning the waste, had concerns but said that the EPA assured him that everyone has followed the guidelines.

The mayor is concerned about the 2-year-old daughter. “But, again, I think this is a state-of-the-art facility that can handle this type of waste.”

After speaking to residents in East Palestine, Shore said it’s clear “that everyone wants this contamination gone from the community” and “we owe it to the people of East Palestine to move it out of the community as quickly as possible.”

The Level of Pollutants in Soil Under Rail Rails is “Evacuating the Building’s Health Concern”, a Carnegie Mellon University Senior Lecturer, Albert Presto, said

The soil underneath the rails is excavated and four wells are installed and three more will be drilled this week, officials said. There are 14 wells that are planned.

The wells will give DeWine and his team a better understanding of the ground water flow in the area.

A data analysis of the EPA’s pollutant measurements shows that many of the chemicals are higher than normal.

If the levels of some chemicals remain high, it could pose a problem for residents’ health over time, the scientists said. Temperature changes or high winds might stir up the chemicals and release them into the atmosphere.

The EPA is holding that waste disposal to an “extremely rigorous standard,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told “CNN This Morning” on Tuesday.

Acrolein is used to control plants, algae, rodents and microorganisms. The liquid is toxic at room temperature. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention it can cause inflammation and irritation of the skin.

Albert Presto, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Carnegie Mellon University who is working on the university’s institute for energy innovation, said it isn’t an immediate ‘evacuate the building’ health concern.

Investigating the Pittsburgh Metal Works Derailment with the Ohio Department of Environmental and Nuclear Safety, and a Close-Call Reporting System, and an Indiana State Plan to Test for Dioxins

The agency had approved two sites in Ohio to handle safe disposal of the waste: Heritage Thermal Services in East Liverpool and Vickery Environmental in Vickery, it said.

Now, two more sites – Heritage Environmental Services’ hazardous waste landfill in Roachdale, Indiana, and Ross Incineration Services in Grafton, Ohio – will receive contaminated waste starting Tuesday, Shore said Monday.

The US Transportation Department favors raising the cap on safety violations for rail companies and speeding up the process of bringing in fortified tank cars, which are less likely to spill, according to Buttigieg.

He also called on the CEOs of major freight rail companies to “join a close-call reporting system that protects whistleblowers who spot issues that could lead to accidents.”

A federal agency has issued a new advisory for major freight rail companies to look at the performance of the protective coverings over the pressure relief valves.

Several of the tank cars had aluminum coverings meant to protect the valves and relieve pressure from tank cars to prevent damage, according to the PHMSA – a branch of the US Department of Transportation.

Three of the vinyl chloride tank cars that derailed were covered in aluminum protective covers, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was looking closely at them.

That’s after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a letter to the CEOs of the companies asking them to join the reporting system and gave them by the end of the week to inform him of their decision.

The agency, which has been probing what may have caused the derailment, has said it could issue urgent recommendations at any point during its investigation.

The company, which has been ordered by the EPA to fully clean up the wreck, backed out of a town hall with local officials last month, citing threats against its employees.

The clean up crews have also reported symptoms as a result of health effects, according to a letter written on behalf of the unions. CNN has reached out to Norfolk Southern for comment on the letter.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said Thursday the state will contract a third-party company to test the waste coming to his state for “dangerous levels of dioxins.” That sampling is scheduled to begin Friday, the governor said.

Norfolk Southern will need to test for dioxins in East Palestine, according to the federal EPA. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, dioxins can cause disease and have significant toxicity.

According to the release, sampling forindicator chemicals suggests a low chance of release of dioxin from this incident.

Vogel said the levels being detected in water sampling are much lower than the federal hazard level for the compound in drinking water and well below levels that would cause immediate health effects, but added she did not know whether there could be longterm health effects. She said that a health study might help shed light on that.