Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, are safe from toxic chemicals spilled or burned off: The Ohio State Department of Health and Human Services confirmed an evacuation order on February 8

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.

An evacuation order that was in place for areas near the crash site was lifted February 8 after officials said air and water sample results led them to deem the area safe, officials said.

Air monitoring and indoor air screening are still going on according to the EPA. The agency says municipal water samples shows no issues with water quality.

The officials said the burn was needed to prevent more harm from an explosion and that the air and water were safe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would continue to monitor public health and conduct assessments, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Further spurring residents’ questions about safety were crews’ decision to conduct controlled detonations February 6 of some of the tanks that were carrying toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride that has the potential to kill at high levels and increase cancer risk.

The commander of the Ohio National Guard previously said that members wearing protective gear would take readings inside homes, basements and businesses as officials aimed to ensure the air was safe before lifting the evacuation order.

Environmental and Health Effects of Vinyl Chloride in East Palestine, Ohio: A First-Class Action Supremum Against Norfolk Southern

There was no one injured when 50 cars derailed and burst into flames on the outskirts of East Palestine. When it was clear that there would be a blast, the area was evacuated and five rail carloads of vinyl chloride were burned to the ground, sending black smoke into the sky.

A local couple and business owner file the first-class action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, CNN reports. The suit accuses the rail company of negligence, stating it failed to exercise reasonable care for residents, with businesses adversely affected by the derailment and chemical spill.

It’s been nearly a month since a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water around East Palestine, Ohio. Authorities have conducted a massive operation to clean up the hazardous materials.

Though an evacuation order was lifted last week, some residents refuse to return amid fears the water, air, soil and surfaces in the village of 5,000 are still not safe.

The EPA says air monitoring continues throughout East Palestine. Monitoring after the fire went out found no concern that can be attributed to the incident.

The Ratner home passed the tests and was approved for use. No chemical detections have been made so far in the air of 281 homes that the EPA has checked for hazardous chemicals, according to a Monday news update.

There are a number of health risks associated with breathing or drinking vinyl chloride. People who breathe the chemical over many years may also experience liver damage.

The US Environmental Protection Agency says that phosgene and hydrogen chloride are released when vinyl chloride breaks down. When these chemicals break down or react with other things in the environment, they can create a stew of potential toxins.

The EPA monitors for phosgene, hydrogen chloride, and other hazardous chemicals, which are released by burning vinyl chloride. Exposure to phosgene can cause eye irritation, dry burning throat and vomiting; while hydrogen chloride can irritate the skin, nose, eyes and throat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The transition from dangerous to safe was made at the beginning and people are going to start to worry about long-term health effects if they are exposed to chemicals.

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.

Dannemiller recommends residents to wipe down surfaces, especially areas that collect dust, and wash items that absorb smells, such as bed sheets and curtains. She also advises vacuuming carefully in short bursts to try to prevent contaminants from moving into the air.

State Sensitive Analysis of a Railroad Cars Derailment. The Ohio EPA and Water Control Efficacy in Providing Drinking Water

A mechanical issue with a rail car axle is suspected to be the cause of the derailment, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it has video appearing to show a wheel bearing overheating just beforehand. The preliminary report from the NationalTransportation Safety Board is expected in two weeks.

The wheelset and bearing, tank cars and railcars, the maintenance procedures and practices, as well as the damage from the derailing will be looked into in the investigation.

Two local businesses are reported to have filmed glowing or flames from the train prior to it derailing.

Authorities responding to the crash grew concerned that cars carrying vinyl chloride were at risk of a catastrophic explosion. Officials ultimately evacuated the area to conduct a “controlled explosion” instead, sending a black plume of smoke into the sky above the small town.

The law doesn’t say that Norfolk Southern must notify officials if a train with hazardous materials passes through the state.

Almost 500 cubic yards of “vinyl chloride-impacted material” has been removed, according to the Ohio EPA, and cleanup of contaminated dirt near the derailment site continues.

Ohio EPA leads efforts to investigate and remediate impacts to water, the agency says. Samples from Sulphur Run and other points of nearby water streams are taken for testing.

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 and other agencies have been tracking 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.

Health authorities have also tested water from at least 74 private wells and those results are pending. Residents who get their water from private wells – which may be closer to the surface than municipal wells – should continue drinking bottled water until they receive their test results, the governor said.

The Velez Family of a Child in the Wild: Emergency Services and Water Testing at the Norfolk Southern Railroad Accident Site after the Spike-Induced Derailment

According to the Ohio department of natural resources the spill killed some 3,500 fish and affected more than seven miles of streams.

The estimation of the dead fish came after initial testing and sampling by the state agency, Mertz said. There hasn’t appeared to be an increase in the number of fish killed since the first couple of days.

Some of the pits of dirt that have been dug up measure about 700 feet long and 8 feet deep, Kurt Kollar, the on-scene coordinator for the Ohio EPA’s Office of Emergency Response, said.

Dr. Erin Haynes, an environmental health scientist with the University of Kentucky, told CNN last week that it will be important to monitor people’s health and the environment around the train derailment for some time to come since health impacts may not emerge until later.

necdotes are difficult because they are anecdotes. Everything that we have gathered so far is pointing toward very low measurements if at all.

This week, a huge smell of chlorine filled the air where the Velez family had been raising two children and Nathen was burning his throat and eyes.

Norfolk Southern said that it wasn’t going to the open house because of a growing physical threat to its employees and members of the community.

The company said that they are increasingly concerned about the physical threat to their employees and members of the community as a result of outside parties being around the event.

Company officials had hoped to join local leaders Wednesday evening to update the community on the steps they are taking to “safely clean up the accident site and to provide the latest results from ongoing water and air testing,” the release reads.

A community meeting still was expected to go forward Wednesday evening, and plaintiff’s attorneys invited residents to meet with them beforehand to discuss the derailment’s impact.

A trauma-informed response effort to protect the environment: A case study of a Norfolk Southern railroad site, and implications for air quality and water quality

A researcher at Michigan State University is part of that effort. In situations like the one in East Palestine, she says, it’s important for authorities and health providers to use a trauma-informed response. “This is an entire community that has gone through a trauma,” she says. They are negatively impacting their health because of anxiety. They have to be aware of that when interacting with residents.

Velez’ wife is a nurse so she is not putting us and our two young children in harms way by going to anything in our town. “The risk and anxiety of trying to live in our own home again is not worth it.”

There is a chance that private wells may be closer to the surface than the municipal wells, and that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will encourage residents to get their water tested.

A document released by the public shows that potentially contaminated soil has not been removed from the site, which is a critical step that should be completed quickly so that toxic materials are not further dispersed into the environment.

Typically, cleanup overseen by the EPA is a slow process. Every step of the process is subject to negotiations between the agency and the party responsible for the cleanup. Even just deciding on the remedy of what they’ll do with the site can take up to five years.

The EPA says that Norfolk Southern did not remove potentially contaminated soil from the site. Norfolk Southern tells CNN it continues to work to clean up the site, including the removal of soil.

“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, told CNN in an email. “Every time it rains, a flood of new contaminants will enter the ecosystem.”

Shaw told CNN that he had made the commitment to Norfolk Southern from the beginning. “We’re going to do it through continuous long-term air and water monitoring. We’re going to help the residents of this community recover and we’re going to invest in the long-term health of this community and we’re going to make Norfolk Southern a safer railroad.”

Velez, a resident of East Palestine, told CNN he felt a little bit scared when he returned from his visit to the neighborhood

Ben is a resident of East Palestine, he told CNN that they are concerned about the long-term risks that environmental officials are only beginning to assess.

Ben, the owner of a cafe in a few towns, said that he and the other people who worked in the film were still feeling a mix of different feelings from the beginning.

It is hard to make an investment in things like that and feel good about paying our mortgage even once there is not much value in them in the future. It is difficult to come to grips with.

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw posted an open letter telling East Palestine residents that they were here and would stay there for as long as it takes to make sure their safety and help East Palestine recover.

But when Velez returned Monday for a short visit to the neighborhood where his family has lived since 2014 to check his home and his business, he developed a nagging headache that, he said, stayed with him through the night – and left him with a nagging fear.

“Unfortunately volatile organic compounds share a lot with a host of other things, that’s why they cause headaches, eye irritation, nose irritation, et cetera,” he said. “I think that we have to look at the measured facts – and the measured facts include the fact that the air sampling in that area really is not pointing toward an air source for this.”

The EPA tells people that if the waste from the burn has a low odor threshold they can smell it much lower than what is considered hazardous.

The Ratners, Velez, and the Norfolk Southern Environmental Protection Commission: What do they want to tell us about the air and water?

Ben Ratner said the Ratner family limited its water use because of unknown affects. Velez worries “every time we turn the water on or give my daughter a bath could potentially be hazardous,” he wrote on Facebook.

He and his family have been living in an apartment for 30 minutes from their home, but their finances aren’t stable, and a friend has started a Go Fund Me account to help them.

He wrote that many of them residents were stuck in the same situation, and there was no answer. Abandoning and paying a mortgage on a worthless home is the only viable solution.

Hundreds of worried people gathered to hear state officials tell them — as they did earlier in the day — that testing so far has shown local air is safe to breathe and to promise that safety testing of the air and water would continue.

But residents had a lot of questions about health and Norfolk Southern, which did not attend the gathering, had safety concerns for its staff.

Concerns about continuing odors, effects of the smoke on the environment, the potential threat to pets and wild animals, and what was happening with the clean up came during Wednesday’s meeting.

The East Palestine Railroad Derailment: Are They Really Going to Make It Happen Again? Residents gathered at the East Palestine, Ohio, Railroad, in a town hall address Wednesday night

“Why are they not telling us anything?” Kathy Dyke said of the railroad. They’re not answering questions or supporting. 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.

“The pollution, which continues to contaminate the area around East Palestine, created a nuisance, damage to natural resources and caused environmental harm,” Yost said in a letter to the company.

“We have been paying for the clean-up activities to date and will continue to do so. We are committed to thoroughly and safely cleaning the site, and we are reimbursing residents for the disruption this has caused in their lives. We will continue to help East Palestine thrive for the long-term, and we will invest in helping the community for as long as it takes. We are going to learn from this terrible accident and work with regulators and elected officials to improve railroad safety.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency Head traveled to Ohio and promised to hold Norfolk Southern responsible for the train’s derailed carrying hazardous chemicals.

According to the EPA administrator, the agency has full authority to use its enforcement capabilities during the crisis.

“We issued a notice of accountability to the company, and they’ve signed that, indicating that they will be responsible for the cleanup,” Regan told CNN. “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.”

A lot of people don’t have a municipal water supply and they rely on wells. I think their greatest concern is the chemicals that get into the waterways over time. Are they ever going to make it into the well water?

Residents of the East Palestine, Ohio, community, voiced their frustrations during a CNN town hall Wednesday night where they spoke to both Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, demanding answers about the derailment and the cleanup since, and reassurance about their future.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Center for Disease Control, and the Environment are responsible for coordinating transportation and cleanup during the February 3 train disaster

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.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services to send teams to East Palestine, where the train derailed February 3 and sparked a dayslong blaze.

Emergency response teams have contingency plans in place to prevent contaminated water from entering local waterways during the storms, DeWine said.

DeWine said the Ohio Department of Agriculture continues to assure Ohioans that its food supply is safe and the risk to livestock remains low following the train derailment.

Toxic chemicals went into the air. I am truly sorry, but that is the only option we had. If we didn’t do that, then they were going to blow up, and we were going to have shrapnel all across this town.”

“I need help,” Conaway told reporters Wednesday night. “I have the village on my back, and I’ll do whatever it takes … to make this right. I am not departing and I am not going anywhere.

Jami Cozza and the East Palestine Railroad Company, a source close to where the train derailed, have spoken to CNN about their experience in East Palestine

Nate Velez, who said he lives less than half a mile from where the train derailed, told CNN on Wednesday night that the company’s absence from the meeting was “a slap in the face.”

“Most people did not want to go home, but they had to. He said that the people who had to leave were complaining of pains in their throat and other symptoms. “I have gone back a few times, and the smell does make you sick. It hurts your head.”

I was extremely disappointed that they did not show up at the town hall meeting. The public deserves transparency,” he said. The public deserves to know the most current information. And so it’s our job, as the federal government, to hold this company accountable, and I promise you we will.”

There is a hotel in East Palestine that is paid for by the railroad where Jami Cozza is staying because of toxicity from the train wreck.

Speaking to CNN’s Don Lemon, Cozza said the railroad company told her it was safe to return home after conducting air testing. Her house was deemed unsafe due to her insistence that the railroad company run soil and water tests.

Cozza said that she would have been in her house right now if she hadn’t used her voice and been told that it was safe.

She is concerned about how many of those kids are lying in their bed in East Palestine. I do not trust them.

A ramp-up of federal assistance to an Ohio village where a train carrying hazardous materials derailed earlier this month: CDC, Environmental Agency Administration, and National Transportation Safety Board

The Biden administration said it has deployed federal medical experts to help assess what dangers remain at an Ohio village where a train carrying hazardous materials derailed this month, a ramp-up of federal support at the governor’s request as anxious residents point to signs of adverse effects.

In a letter to the CDC, DeWine said the request includes physicians and behavioral health specialists. Some people in the community have already seen physicians, but are still concerned about their health and long-term effects.

The Biden administration approved the request and began deploying teams from both federal agencies in part for public health testing and assessments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.

That is in addition to aid the Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing, according to Jean-Pierre, who noted Thursday that the train derailment situation is “much more expansive” than what FEMA can offer.

The federal support boost to the community of 5000 people along the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line is due to growing concerns among residents that some areas may not be safe.

On Thursday, the head of the Environmental Agency Administration made a visit to East Palestine to assure the residents that they have their backs.

The train operator signed a notice of accountability, acknowledging that they will be responsible for the clean up.

Federal transportation investigators are working vigorously to determine what caused the 100-car freight train to crash in Ohio, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday in a thread of tweets.

CNN obtained two videos that show sparks from a wheel bearing overheating as the train passed through Salem, Ohio. Bright light and sparks are seen emanating from one of the rail cars.

The Case of the March 6, 2006, Volcano Incident in East Palestine, Ohio, Comments on a Post by Homendy on Facebook

Homendy urged the public to not speculate about the cause of the crash in a post on the social networking site.

During an intense community town hall meeting Wednesday in a high school gym, East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway addressed the February 6 controlled detonations, saying the only option was to release the chemicals manually or risk greater danger to residents.

Those payments are in addition to the company’s offer to reimburse expenses related to residents evacuating during the incident, which includes the costs of hotels stays, food and more, company spokesperson Connor Spielmaker said.

One well-known resident of East Palestine, Ohio, is book author Judith A. Lennington, who has published nearly 20 works of fiction, almost all of which can be found, she says, in the town’s library.

Lennington: The railroad trains go right by here. We can see the train tracks from our house. They run right by my home to go into the center of East Palestine.

How terrible was the wake after a big plane crash? I can still smell the clouds coming down from the black cloud. A friend of mine

The cloud that went up in the sky was like nothing I’ve ever seen in my life. It looked like a tornado was coming down from the black cloud. It was terrible. We put quilts over the doors and windows so that nobody would see what happened after the accident.

I can still smell it even though it’s outside. Luckily the fumes are not strong here — the wind blows in the other direction — but I can, still, if I go from the house to the garage, I can feel my eyes burning. I lost my voice after a while.

I am familiar with many people who were evacuated in town. My sister was taken to the hospital. She lives two blocks from the wreck. There are a lot of people in town who have health issues.

I’m a factory worker and a mother-of-two: Writing the story of my husband when I was a working welder

Lennington: I worked for 38 years in a factory on an assembly line. The first factory I worked in made filing cabinets, desks and fireproof security boxes. I worked there as a welder. I met all kinds of people. When I retired, I was stuck, listening to all kinds of stories.

I didn’t know what to do with my life My husband was not working when I retired. I started writing the story for him. He would return home at night and read a few pages I had written in my first book. When it was finished, he said, “Oh my gosh, you have to publish it.”

I said that I am not a college professor. I am a factory worker. I can’t publish a book.” But he said, “You have to.” I received a call Monday morning from a publisher I think I sent the file to on Friday.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/17/opinions/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-author-qa-griffith/index.html

Lennington: Is there a town that doesn’t care what the railroads tell you? The case of northeast Palestine, Ohio

People just started leaving over time. Young people stayed behind their dead parents. The people just moved away because there was no work here.

There is no homeless people on our streets, there are no hypodermic needles lying about, and our citizens keep this community going by opening up their own businesses. The neighbor watches for the next.

It really breaks my heart to see the community going through this, because they feel like nobody’s really listening to them. There are so many people who are just so angry because they feel like they can’t trust anyone.

Lennington: There was talk that if you went and you took the money then you’re not going to be able to get anything later down the road. And people were like, “Is this true? Do we think this is true?

Some people will get a lot of money. My sister didn’t stay at a motel. There are people in town who don’t have credit cards. They were told to go to a motel when they left. Well, the motel wants money upfront, you know, they don’t care what the railroads are telling you. In this town, people don’t always have that.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/17/opinions/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-author-qa-griffith/index.html

The East Palestine ohio train derailment – what can the media say about Lennington and it’s a bad idea?

The person is Lennington. I think the more the media gets involved, the better it’ll be for the citizens. At least they’ll feel like their stories have been heard and they haven’t been just brushed under the rug.

Everyone’s scared. They had a normal life, and were then told to grab what they could and get out. You can return and then you will be on your own. That is not right. I think the rail company owes them something.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/17/opinions/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-author-qa-griffith/index.html

The train wreck of a railroad wreck: What is going on in the town and what will happen if you decide to sell your home toward retirement?

I retired at 62, because I was afraid of the chemicals. I thought they were dangerous. My husband did the same thing. My father lived here on the farm. When he got cancer, I came down here and stayed with him and started taking care of him. After he died, my husband and I decided to relocate here. We tried to keep everything chemical-free. And then we have this train wreck.

I don’t know what will happen. Is it ok for your children to walk in that grass? If you allow your animals to go to the bathroom on the grass, is it safe to have them return to your house? The train wreck is near the ponds where your water is safe. There are little standing ponds on both sides of the tracks there. Did anyone look at that water? We just don’t know.

We went for a ride through the town before the accident happened and we talked about how many homes in town were for sale. That was before the accident.

Now, what hope is there for those people selling those homes? If you worked as long as I did in a factory, and you decided to sell your home toward your retirement, what’s going to happen? What happens now?

How young were we after the Derailment? Ayla and her family left the school after the February 8 derailment in East Palestine

After air monitoring in East Palestine didn’t detect elevated chemicals of concern, residents were given the allclear to return to their homes February 8.

It was on the 10th that we decided that we wouldn’t be able to raise our kids here. There was a terrible, lingering smell that “reminded me of hair perming solution.”

“Before bringing my kids back home, I washed all the linen and a bunch of clothes, cleaned surfaces and aired the house out,” Ayla said. “But the next day when they woke up, they weren’t themselves. My oldest has a rash on her face. The youngest did not do as well. The 2-year-old was holding her eye and complaining that her eye was hurting. She was very lethargic, so I took them back to my parents’ home.”

The smell was so strong that it made me feel sick. I just wanted to leave as soon as possible. I only took a few pieces of clothes because they were too stinky to put on my kids and they smelled like chemicals.

She says she’s also kept her children out of preschool since the derailment. Even though her son’s teacher has promised her that students are using only bottled water, she’s worried about other types of contamination.

I don’t want to take my son out of the preschool because I like the teachers but I’m still scared. Some teachers have even expressed their concerns about the air quality,” Greathouse said.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/17/health/ohio-derailment-rashes-health-impacts/index.html

The EPA, the City of Bethe Ansatz, and the Philadelphia Environmental Emergency Medical Center are asking for more information on chemical exposures in East Palestine

We are lucky that we own a home. I didn’t think I would say that. I feel awful for my landlord, but I just can’t risk my family’s health.”

The EPA says there is no risk to East Palestine water system customers and there is no evidence of contaminants in the treated drinking water.

The teams from the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health will be in the community as early as this week to help assess what dangers remain.

The volatile organic compounds released by the controlled explosion can cause symptoms similar to those reported by some East Palestine residents, including headache, sore throat, and nose and eye irritation, but experts say it’s extremely difficult to connect chemical exposures to health effects.

Haynes, who has experience investigating toxic exposures in communities, says she is seeking approval from her university’s Institutional Review Board to start a study in East Palestine to help give residents more information on their chemical exposures in air, water and soil.

She said that they need all the help they can get. “This is a major emergency. This is a major disaster. They need all the assistance that we all can provide.

DeSanzo, who lives a half mile from the train wreck, was curious to know how safe it was. It isn’t in some people’s heads that are getting rashes or have pinkeye from chemicals.

After the derailment, DeSanzo evacuated with her kids just over the state line in Pennsylvania, where her uncle had an empty duplex. They slept on the floor and the couch.

When she came home this week, DeSanzo says, she aired out her house, changed the furnace filter and washed their sheets and clothes. She said her kids were coughing, and they all went to an immediate care clinic.

The doctor said she had seen a number of East Palestine residents with similar symptoms, DeSanzo said, and advised them to call poison control and go to the local hospital for a blood test. She has not been given the blood test yet.

Debbie Pietrzak, a spokesperson for Salem Regional Medical Center, which runs the clinic DeSanzo went to, confirmed that it has treated a small number of residents with symptoms like sore throats and respiratory problems. The hospital’s emergency room has seen fewer than 10 patients from East Palestine, she said.

The facilities and primary care providers in our area stand ready to help anyone who needs to seek medical attention and we are working closely with the County’s health department and other agencies which are monitoring the situation, Pietrzak said in an email.

The director of the Central Ohio Poison Center said the center is getting calls from residents in East Palestine. Experts who staff the help lines are trained in toxicology and can help if chemicals are a health concern.

The Environmental Health Educator: What Happens When a 4-Year-old Goes Back Out of School and Gets Reportedly Rashes?

She wants to leave, but can not afford it. She pays less than half of the other homes that are in the same area because her mortgage is less than $400 a month.

Ayla says her daughters are staying with her parents in Leetonia, about 20 minutes west of East Palestine, until the couple is able to make sure their home is safe.

I allowed my 4-year-old to return to preschool in the East Palestine Elementary School. She went back for two days and developed another rash on her hands and started complaining of itching, so I pulled her back out,” Ayla said.

The Department of Environmental Health at Harvard is headed by a Dr. that says that is the right thing to do.

“There are people that are highly sensitive to chemicals and can feel it before necessarily a monitor can pick it up,” Nadeau said. There is not a great diagnostic pathway for chemical sensitivities. A lot of it is based off clinical symptoms, including rashes.”

Environmental health experts advise people who are having symptoms to see a health care provider, mainly for medical care, but also so their case can be documented.

If there is a group of people that all of a sudden have complained about a rash, that helps Doctors come together with institutions like the CDC and do a little bit more fact-finding.

Reports of Respiratory Constraints from East Palestine Residents and Public Officials on the Environment After the February 3 Freight Train Collision

Ms. Guglielmo is one of several people in the area who are looking for ways to conduct their own independent tests, reflecting the distrust residents have in the government and Norfolk Southern.

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.

DeWine says the state of Ohio has opened a clinic in East Palestine to help people who think they have health issues as a result of the train wreck.

A EPA official with knowledge of the visit told CNN that Michael Regan would visit the town on Tuesday to meet with residents and local officials.

There are reports of headaches, nausea and various other symptoms that residents fear are related to the February 3 Norfolk Southern freight train crash and the subsequent release of toxic vinyl chloride, and the visit comes as skepticism and anxiety is spreading in the town.

The EPA says it’ll continue monitoring air quality as work continues at the crash site to excavate contaminated soil and haul away the remaining rail cars.

“We should never say we’re done looking at this community for potential exposures and health impacts. Some may not occur until later,” said Haynes, adding that anyone experiencing health symptoms should take them seriously and call the poison control center.

Public Concerns About the Norfolk Southern Railroad, Sulphur Run, Leslie Run, and the Ohio River: News Releases from Maysville Utilities

Norfolk Southern installed booms and dams to restrict the flow of contaminated water from Sulphur Run and Leslie Run – two of the locations where fish were found dead, according to EPA.

In the meantime, water intakes from the Ohio River that were shut off Sunday “as a precautionary measure” were reopened after sampling found “no detections of the specific chemicals from the train derailment,” according to news releases from the Greater Cincinnati Water Works and Northern Kentucky Water District.

Maysville Utilities shut down their Ohio River intake valve due to the public concern, because water measurements have been below the level of concern.

1,400 tons of solid waste were removed from the site and taken to other places in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

DeWine said citizens were concerned that the railroad started and that the soil under the tracks had not been dealt with. Under the order of the administrator, that soil will be removed. The tracks have to be taken up and the soil has to be removed.

As skepticism spreads about the safety of the air and water, some local business say they’ve seen fewer customers, despite calls to return to normal life.

A stylist at a hair salon also told the station there’s no doubt the salon lost business and that customers may be worried about what may be in the water washing their hair.

Many of our businesses are suffering greatly because people don’t want to come here, according to the local greenhouse owner.

The East Palestine Transportation Disaster: Why We Care about What’s Right for the People, What We Can Do About It, and How We Can Invest in Safety

A number of officials, including US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have demanded accountability and called for greater safety regulations after the toxic derailment.

Crews are still working to respond to the freight disaster in East Palestine as community members worry about possible adverse health effects from the toxic materials released when dozens of cars derailed after a likely mechanical failure.

February 23 is when the order will take effect. If Norfolk Southern fails to complete any EPA orders, the agency will immediately step in and conduct necessary work and then try to compel the rail company to pay triple the cost.

“We recognize that we have a responsibility, and we have committed to doing what’s right for the residents of East Palestine,” the railroad said. We are committed to cleaning the site thoroughly and safely and we will be reimbursed for the disrupted lives of residents.

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

In an interview with CNBC, the CEO responded to criticisms from the transportation secretary and senator, saying that the company invests over $1 billion a year in “science based” 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 take a look at this and see what we can do differently and what we can do better.”

The Clean-up of the Ohio-Pennsylvania Warped Trajectory Associated with the Shock-Induced Deceleration Train

The crash took place near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, and the EPA took charge of the cleaning up.

Shaw refused to answer questions about the wreck investigation and details about what may have caused the train to derail, saying he was forbidden from talking about it.

He said that the move was in response to the concerns of people that they need to go to another country to get answers about their medical problems.

The EPA’s order is “common sense,” according to President Joe Biden. “This is their mess. They should clean it up,” the president said of Norfolk Southern in an Instagram post.

“I know this order cannot undo the nightmare that families in this town have been living with. But it will begin to deliver much needed justice for the pain that Norfolk Southern has caused,” Regan said.

On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said that Norfolk Southern gave the middle finger to the good people of Pennsylvania and Ohio in the way it had handled its response. He stated that the authorities on his side of the border were also looking at water.

East Palestine, PA: The train wreck did not end there, but instead it was the end of the problem: Norfolk Southern explains concerns about the air quality and hazardous waste spill

Regan and DeWine tasted the tap water from East Palestine, Ohio, and tried to quell concerns about the water’s safety.

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.

“In sum, Norfolk Southern injected unnecessary risk into this crisis,” Shapiro said, adding he plans to hold the company accountable for their actions.

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 has been keeping track of air and water quality, and has tested thousands of data points, all of which have come back clean.

Residents of the town have been concerned about the long-term health effects of the crash and now have questions regarding the disposal of toxic waste.

The Trump administration was accused of limits on the government’s ability to strengthen rail safety measures by President Biden.

Biden wrote in an IG post that the train wreck and hazardous waste spill were not the end of the matter.

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.

What are the EPA’s Warnings about Chemical Damage to East Palestine, Ohio, a Town Founded on the Conaway’s Faith?

Asked about the reported symptoms, the EPA administrator said Tuesday that he’s “not discounting what people are experiencing” and asked anyone concerned to seek medical attention.

When people say that they’re facing adverse impacts, I believe them. When we ask them to seek medical attention, then we can take that information and add it to our response. We don’t discount what people are experiencing. We want them to seek medical help when they are conducting our investigations.

“We need our town cleaned up and we need our residents to feel safe in their homes” Conaway said in the news conference. The number one thing. If you don’t feel safe in your home, then you’re never going to feel safe anywhere.

She is keeping an eye on a vat of maple sap bubbling in her yard and not giving up. But as she ran through the questions she had about planting a garden, eating the fruit from her trees and letting her horses drink from the nearby creek in the wake of the chemical burn, Ms. Mibuck conceded: “I don’t feel completely safe doing that. I hate that.

When the Norfolk Southern freight train careened off the tracks this month and left a fiery heap of wreckage on the outskirts of East Palestine, Ohio, a town of roughly 4,700 people, it upended an area where generations of families could afford to buy acres of land, raise horses and plant gardens, hunt deer and birds and build lives undisturbed by the chaos of bigger cities nearby. Although farming provides only a small number of jobs in the immediate area, many residents say that raising livestock and working the land are profoundly important to their way of life.

Through a long global pandemic, national political tensions and the stress of inflation, the land, the water and the fresh air had been a source of comfort and safety. Many people in the area have lost their faith because of the chemical threat. The EPA said that substances were released into the air, water, and soil.

What’s going on in the Proia’s room after a large fire: a history of respiratory illness, public water and wells

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 people saying? Proia said pulmonary doctors in the area were bracing for a rise in patients after the derailment and controlled burn, but that he hadn’t experienced it.

Respiratory illness hasn’t come in much for us. What we have heard, mostly through the media, and a few patients will say, perhaps a rash or a foul smell. But really no overt shortness of breath, or respiratory failure has been connected to this.

It’s a caveat to remember that you are only going to find what you are looking for. After a large fire with a bunch of different chemicals, we don’t know what else is out there.

I’ve authorized testing of all of the wells on the Pennsylvania side and the public water system to ensure that local residents have the comfort of knowing what’s coming out of the tap is safe. We’ve seen no concerning readings yet, but we’re going to continue to test for months and months and months, if not years.

A one mile walk by the track outside the hot zone is conducted by the National Safety Board. The report will be ready in four to eight weeks.

A Town Hall Health Clinic for the East Palestine Unintentional Wreck Derailment Resulted by Stewart’s Construction of a Trajectory

Jim Stewart, who has lived in East Palestine for six decades, said the wreck destroyed his dreams of retiring and selling his house and that he now is worried about the home’s value. He said he’s afraid to take his dog out, because of the strong stench, and wonders if he’ll be able to plant his tomatoes during the summer, after officials said the soil was also contaminated by chemicals.

The documents filed in 2020 with the Federal Railroad Authority show that the slowdown was below average for a train travelling along that stretch of track.

A mother and teacher in East Palestine says her son has had bloodied noses every day since she and her family returned home.

A resident named Josh, who is currently staying at a hotel, said he has experienced symptoms including headaches, dizziness and blood from his nose, and that on Tuesday he went to the emergency room for treatment.

“We’re getting everything we need, except answers,” East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway said Wednesday. “We need answers, as far as the health concerns.”

During the town hall, Ohio’s governor stressed he did not want to minimize any medical issues potentially linked to the derailment, saying that’s the reason he requested medical experts to the community.

Medical teams from the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services will also be on the ground this week at DeWine’s request, he said Friday.

Feb. 21 — The state opens up a health clinic for residents who worry their symptoms, such as trouble breathing, rashes and nausea, might be linked to the derailment.

The East Palestine Water Treatment Plant for the Norfolk Southern Department of Environmental Quality (EPA) 943-0288: Measurement of Surface Water Samples at Norfolk Southern Contractors

Shaw said that the community would get the clean-up right and that they would invest in the long term health of the community. I will see this through and we are going to be here. And we’re going to work with these community leaders to help you thrive.”

The East Palestine crew will be starting removing the train tracks in order to remove the waste and contaminated soil from the site.

“Since I (got) home from evacuating, I’m still not using the water because I never know if … they’re telling the truth or it’s a lie,” resident Nene Stewart said during the town hall. “I use bottled water. I can’t. I’m not trusting what they’re saying. I don’t know who is telling the truth.

Aeration pumps begin operating at three locations along Sulphur Run and the confluence with Leslie Run. Oxygen can be injected into the water. There wasn’t anything adverse to the East Palestine water treatment plant, according to the EPA. Surface water samples are collected by Norfolk Southern contractors.

Public Safety Response to Complaints of a Contamination of Air Samples in a Public Administration Building, and a Request for Indoor Air Screening

The 52nd Civil Service Team does air monitoring in three public administration buildings to collect air samples.

The EPA is looking at a complaint of odors from the fire station. A team with air monitoring equipment goes to the station and doesn’t see any higher than detection limits.

The EPA and Ohio EPA find spilled materials in Sulphur Run, the EPA says. Oily product is leaking from a tank car and pooling onto the soil. The product is being removed using a vacuum truck.

Some residents still have concerns despite the officials deeming the air and water samples safe. If necessary, officials say that residents are encouraged to get their homes cleaned and seek medical attention.

Norfolk Southern offers voluntary air screening appointments, the EPA says. Crews have screened indoor air at a total of 46 homes. There are over 400 requests for indoor air screening remaining.

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

The village of East Palestine is about to investigate the train derailment: CNN’s Jeffery Shore speaks at the village council meeting on Feb. 15

Feb. 15 — Residents pack a high school gym in East Palestine for a meeting with officials to discuss the current state of their community, CNN reports.

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 attends a community meeting alongside EPA on-scene coordinators and state and local officials to hear residents’ concerns.

Gov. DeWine issues a press release stating the municipal water is safe to consume. Test results from the village’s municipal well sampling showed no water quality concerns, the state says.

Feb. 19 — The village of East Palestine’s municipal well water sample results show no water quality concerns, the EPA says. The General Health District is trying to find out if there are private water wells. The agency says that 52 wells have been tested, 49 in Ohio, and three across the border in Pennsylvania.

If the EPA is to offer cleaning services to residents and businesses, an additional layer of reassurance will be conducted by EPA staff and contractors.

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.

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

Clean Your Own – EPA or EPA? How Residents of East Palestine Think They Can Expend Their Own Power, Protect Their Families, and Protect Their Homes

They will fully pay for it. At any moment, if we have to step in because they refuse to do anything, we will do the cleaning up ourselves. We can fine them up to $70,000 a day,” the EPA chief said.

If we can recover our total costs, we can charge them 3 times the cost of the federal government. The law provides that.

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 she has expressed are of her own. There are more opinions on CNN.

Three weeks after the derailment of a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals ignited a days-long fire in their town, residents of East Palestine are still waiting for answers.

And while the accident has received reams of press coverage, people who live in East Palestine have said that their complaints about rashes, headaches and other ailments they believe are linked to the disaster have been ignored.

But a memo from Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection and its Department of Health advised residents that vacuuming inside their homes “may cause chemicals that have settled on floors and surfaces to become airborne, which could cause inhalation concerns” — guidance which is confusing and even scary.

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.

East Palestine is a toxic train wreck: Residents, officials, and the governor never made a declaration against a disaster declaration. Reply to Buttigieg

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg toured East Palestine on Thursday and called for railroad industry to do more to implement higher safety standards. The head of the EPA visited the scene a second time on Tuesday to try to assure residents that they could feel confident in the testing and Cleanup efforts currently underway in their town. I count myself among the skeptics.

A recent test done by ORSANCO shows butyl acrylate is no longer being detected, probably due to chemical breakdown, as it is known for being volatile. But levels are likely below the limits of the water tests. Government scientists did not detect vinyl chloride in the river samples.

The residents of East Palestine have health impacts which could surface in time.

Eric Beckman, a professor in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and co- founders of the Mascaro Center for sustainable innovation, said last week that what happened in East Palestine was an uncontrolled chemical reaction.

So far, inexplicably, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has failed to issue a disaster declaration. The governor’s spokesman said that the governor might revisit the idea if the circumstances warrant it. 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.

The community of East Palestine needs our support right now — as do other affected towns downstream, and communities across our nation through which trains carrying highly volatile hazardous chemicals will continue to run until robust safety measures are put in place.

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

It shouldn’t be strange when they are used as a thoroughfare for carrying cargo across hundreds of miles of railway tracks.

After a brief pause, shipments of contaminated liquid and soil from the toxic train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, will resume Monday.

The Ohio Safe Waste Management Agency Ordered Two Sites in Ohio after the Cleveland-Vickery and East Cleveland Railroad Collision

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

The move came after the agency on Friday ordered the train’s operator, Norfolk Southern, to halt the shipments so that it could review the company’s plans for disposal as officials in Texas and Michigan complained they didn’t receive any warning that waste from the crash would be shipped into their jurisdictions for disposal.

The hazardous waste that is sent to Michigan and Texas is being processed, according to the EPA regional administrator.

The mayor of East Liverpool expressed concern about the process, but the EPA assured him that everyone has followed the guidelines.

“We have a 2-year-old daughter and of course that’s a concern,” Mayor Gregory T. Bricker said. This facility is state-of-the-art, and it can handle this type of waste.

More than 2 million gallons of waste and 4,832 yards of waste have been pulled from the site, according to the office of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

Shore told the people of East Palestine they must move it out of the area as quickly as possible.

The federal teams are going door to door in East Palestine to check in with residents after President Biden ordered them to do so, a White House official told CNN.

New Monitoring Wells for the DEWine Project at the Fermilab Tevatron Site (Fermilab). The EPA Director Announces the Delay

Four wells have been installed and up to three more will be drilled this week after the soil under the rails is completely excavated, officials said. Fourteen wells in total are planned.

“These monitoring wells will also support a better understanding of the direction and rate of the ground water flow in the area,” DeWine’s office said.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency director said in a Sunday update that all of the derailed rail cars had been removed from the site.

The crew did not do anything wrong before the crash, though it was preventable, according to the chair of the safety board.

The scientists found that nine of the dozens of chemicals that the EPA had been monitoring were higher than would be normally found there.

If the levels of some chemicals remain high, it could pose a problem for residents’ health over time, the scientists said. Chemicals can be stir up by high winds and released into the atmosphere.

State governments and federal government regulate the transportation and disposal of hazardous waste from the moment a truck or rail car is loaded until it is safely destroyed.

The Acrolein-Based Derailment at a Ohio Tank Car Collider Revealed by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Acrolein is used to control a number of organisms. It is a clear liquid at room temperature and is toxic. It can cause inflammation and irritation of the skin, respiratory tract and mucous membranes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Albert Presto, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon, said that it was not elevated to the point where it would be considered to be a health concern.

The effort to remove vast amounts of contaminated soil and water from the small town in eastern Ohio has involved at least seven different licensed hazardous waste disposal facilities across four states: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Texas.

The US transportation department favors increasing the fines for safety violations for rail companies and putting tank cars with better protection into service quicker, 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 new advisory has been issued by an agency urging major freight rail companies to take immediate safety measures to look at the performance of the protective coverings over the pressure relief valves.

The agency said that the aluminum covers on some tank cars may have melted from the fire and dripped into some pressure relief devices, degrading their performance.

In an investigative update on the derailment published Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board also said it was “looking closely” at aluminum protective covers used on three of the vinyl chloride tank cars that derailed.

The CEOs of companies were sent a letter from the transportation secretary asking them to join the reporting system, which they did by the end of the week.

The agency has said that it could issue urgent recommendations at any time during its investigation.

Norfolk Southern, EPA, and workers: a step toward a federally ordered clean-up of the Wreck, Part I, the letter

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.

In addition to residents who reported health effects, crews involved in the clean-up have also reported symptoms, according to a letter on behalf of workers’ unions to Buttigieg and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. CNN contacted Norfolk Southern to inquire about the letter.

The governor said the state will use a third-party company to test the waste for dioxins. That sampling is scheduled to begin Friday, the governor said.

The process would involve removing one side of the tracks, digging out the contaminated soil, conducting sampling and then replacing the tracks, EPA response coordinator Mark Durno said.

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

Based on the test results to date, the release stated there was a low probability of the release of dioxin.

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 may be able to shed light on that.

The East Palestine Waste Contamination Problem Involved in New Debris Discharge Sites and Facilities in the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection

The tangle got more complicated after Norfolk Southern’s removal operations were stopped for one day last weekend due to concerns about East Palestine waste in Texas and Michigan.

More than 1.2 million gallons of contaminated firefighting water were sent to Texas Molecular outside of Houston. Another 320,000 gallons were sent to U.S. Ecology Romulus in Michigan, and nearly 100,000 to a facility in Vickery, Ohio. Hundreds of tons of soil were taken to a facility in Michigan. A landfill in Roachdale, Ind. is among the places that will get more incinerators.

Afterward, officials announced several new disposal sites for the East Palestine waste, including a landfill in Indiana — which prompted objection from yet another state official, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. He said the materials should not move from the eastern side of Ohio to the western side of Indiana.

“They’ll be living with this both environmentally and psychologically for a long time. And I don’t see any really quick return to normal,” said Noah Sachs, a professor of environmental law at the University of Richmond.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/03/1160481769/east-palestine-derailment-toxic-waste-cleanup

East Palestine Derailment: An Emergency Law Governing the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Chemical Liquids and Liquor Control Program

Wastewater and polluted soil can be unloaded from semi-trucks and sent to disposal facilities. Other times, the waste is loaded onto trains, which then transport the waste water to other areas – often out of state – before being loaded back into other trucks destined for disposal facilities. The Ohio EPA will oversee those transfers, officials said this week.

The handling of hazardous materials must follow rules regarding the collection and transportation of contaminated soil and water around the country as well as the long-term storage and treatment at licensed facilities.

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

Nearly every state has thousands of facilities that are licensed to treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste. Not all types of waste can be taken to a facility. The type of waste and nature ofcontamination can affect whether waste is sent to landfill, water treatment facilities or incinerated.

Political considerations are another one, Sachs said. High-profile cleanup sites, like East Palestine, can raise concerns from residents of other states, prompting politicians to step in.

Combined, those sites do not have enough capacity to hold all of the hazardous waste from East Palestine, officials said this week, meaning they are still looking for others.

But the emergency nature of the derailment, and the immediate threat it posed to public health and the environment in East Palestine, allowed the EPA to tap into a special emergency provision in the law that governs its cleanup authority.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/03/1160481769/east-palestine-derailment-toxic-waste-cleanup

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Is it going to be the end of the long-term, or is it really the beginning of the road?

“We will have a decision on where the waste is going to be and how much of a problem it will be in a short period of time, rather than months-long or years-long planning sessions,” he said.

The finish line looks like it will bring the community back to its previous state, said EPA administrator Michael Regan in an interview with NPR. “This is a longer-term process, but rest assured that we will be there until the job is finished.”

Some independent researchers have arrived on the scene, hoping to help with more measurements and analyses. Others have been invited by people who wish to have a second opinion. The teams feel they can help to fill some of the gaps.

Ivan Rusyn, director of the Texas A&M University’s Superfund Research Center in College Station, says that the residents had a misconception about what they were experiencing and everyone told them everything was okay.

In a statement to Nature, the EPA said it has detected slightly elevated levels of acrolein in East Palestine, but that they are not posing any health risks at the moment. “Those concentrations have since returned to levels below the national median,” the agency said.

When asked what it is considering, the EPA told Nature that, in the first two weeks of an emergency response, it’s important to focus on short-term-exposure concerns — and its work can transition to longer-term concerns as time goes on.

Scientists have difficulty interpreting official reports, according to Nicole Karn, a chemist at the Ohio State University. “There’s already a lot of distrust among residents about whether the EPA is being truthful,” Karn says, “so [agency officials] have an uphill battle when it comes to regaining trust”.

The EPA said in its statement that it wants to better illustrate the information by posting daily updates on its website. The agency also has a welcome centre in town, a 24-hour hotline and weekly open houses at which residents can ask questions, it said.

“It’s time for independent scientists to look into the water supply problem” — An independent analysis of a chemical disaster that Minnesota city has had to go through

This isn’t the first time independent researchers have been called in to evaluate a chemical disaster. In order to get its drinking-water from a river, the city ofFlint in Michigan switched its supply from LakeHuron to theFlint River. Dissatisfied with statements by officials that the water was safe, they asked for a second opinion. In 2015, researchers discovered there were dangerous levels of lead in the water due to the city’s water treatment decisions.

Richeal applauds the efforts by scientists. “It’s very important that independent researchers are doing this,” he says. He’s particularly worried about long-term effects: “You might think everything is okay right now. But what happens when you get all this rain and everything gets into the ground? There are a lot of unknowns.