East Palestine residents worry about the health of theirair and water due to the toxic train wreck

What Happened When a Toxic Train Derailed on February 3: Common Questions about Chemical Contamination in East Palestine, Ohio

Toxic train derailments don’t happen very often, but they can have serious consequences for human and environmental health when they do. Here are some common questions, answered.

Health concerns are lingering in East Palestine, Ohio, after a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed on February 3. Residents were temporarily evacuated from the area two days later to allow for a controlled burn of the chemicals, which sent a large plume of black smoke into the sky.

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.

A business owner and a couple are in the process of filing a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern. 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.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which has been monitoring the air quality, said it has not detected “any levels of concern” in East Palestine as of Sunday.

The agency said that no vinylchloride or hydrogenchloride were found in 29 homes that have been screened so far. There are 181 homes left to be evaluated 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 the chemical over many years may also experience liver damage.

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. According to the Ohio Department of Health, if the chemical is spilled in soil or surface water, it will go into the air very quickly.

The EPA has been watching the release of phosgene and hydrogen chloride, two chemicals that can be released when burning vinyl chloride. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both hydrogen chloride and phosgene can cause eye irritation and dry burning, and both can irritate the skin.

Environmental Protection Agency Investigations of a Tank Car Collision During a Derailment with a Trajectory on a Long-Term Rail Car

“Now that we are entering into a longer term phase of this, people are going to be concerned about the long-term chronic exposure that comes at lower levels,” said Karen Dannemiller, a professor at The Ohio State University who studies indoor air quality.

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 advises vacuuming in short periods of time to keep dirt from moving into the air.

The train’s engineer applied the train’s brakes and additional braking after the alert of an overheating axle, the report states. “During this deceleration, the wheel bearing failed,” Homendy explained. The train came to a stop after car 23 derailed and initiated an emergency brake application.

The next phase of the investigation will examine the train’s wheelset and bearing as well as the damage from the derailment, the NTSB report noted. The designs of tank cars and railcars, along with maintenance procedures and practices, are what the agency will focus on.

Some of the videos, including footage from two local businesses reported by local media to show glowing or flames from the train prior to the derailing, are being reviewed by the federal agency.

Update on the Norfolk Southern Railroad Derailment, and the State’s Department of Water and Water Treatment (Daily Brief Update on Tuesday, Oct. 1997)

DeWine said it’s absurd that the law didn’t require Norfolk Southern to alert officials about the train coming through the state.

In an update Tuesday, investigators said no vinyl chloride has been detected in any of the down-gradient waterways near the train derailment, and environmental teams are aerating waterways near the site.

In his brief update on Thursday, the Ohio governor said that the latest lab results show no signs of contaminants related to the municipal water. Private water system tests 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 chemicals are a “contaminant plume” that the Ohio EPA and other agencies have been tracking in real time. It is believed to be moving around a mile an hour.

The majority of the chemicals can pass if the drinking water intakes are 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.

State officials have repeatedly said water from the municipal system – which is pulled from five deep wells covered by solid steel casing – is safe to drink. However, the state’s EPA encouraged residents who get water from private wells to get that water tested, the governor’s office said.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources notified that an electric train left Ohio’s waters without a trace of contaminants. Environmental officials said the situation is not going to improve

The director of Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources said that many fish died in Ohio’s waters as a result of the spill.

Initial testing and sampling were done by the state agency, according to Mertz. Since the first few days after the train derailed, there has not been an increase in the number of fish killed.

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.

When people reported headaches and sore throats and animals died near a train wreck, the health director of Ohio said air quality did not appear to be the source.

Anecdotes are challenging because they are anecdotal. Everything so far we have gathered is pointing toward very low measures.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, railroad transportation is considered the safest mode of transportation for long distances to carry large quantities of hazardous materials.

“It’s the mode of transportation that’s capable of moving bulk quantities,” Federal Rail Administration spokesperson Warren Flatau told CNN. “These commodities cannot be moved by pipeline; the alternative is moving them by truck over the highways, which is 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. “If natural gas were to have a derailment like the vinyl chloride, it would be devastating.”

The Environmental Protection Agency Observed No Chemical Compounds Left in the Scratch from the Cleveland Rail Car Spill: A Comprehensive Analysis

Since the blast of the chemicals inside the rail cars, the Environmental Protection Agency has conducted air, soil and water tests.

While most of the Tuesday news conference focused on volatile organic compounds – chemicals found in common household products – there are other kinds of chemicals that were released in the spill that don’t diffuse as easily, according to Purdue University professor Andrew Whelton, an expert on disasters, environmental chemistry and water quality.

“Because of their size, they don’t go in the air as easily,” Whelton said. They like to stay with soils and other materials. The question is, how polluted is the creek and how will they clean it up?

Anecdotal reports of pets and chickens dying have not yet been confirmed by officials. There is no evidence that non-aquatic species have been affected by the spill, according to the director of Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources.

Kurt Kollar, the Ohio EPA on-scene coordinators, said crews excavated and removed almost 500 yards of impacted material that included soil. The EPA is blocking off ditches so that the dirt won’t ruin the 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.

Whereas other chemicals can break down with exposure to sunlight, air and water, “PFAS don’t break down naturally,” Garrett told CNN. The chemicals have been associated with certain types of cancer.

The Environmental Impact of the East Palestine Reaction after the First Train Scattering: Residents’ Concerns about the Effects of the Trapped Air and Water on Air Quality

The residents of East Palosse filled the school gym on Wednesday to inquire about whether or not they were safe from toxic chemicals after the train wreck.

State officials told worried people that testing had shown the air is safe to breathe, and that they would continue testing the air and water.

Residents had many questions about health dangers and they wanted more transparency from the railroad operator, which didn’t attend the gathering due to safety concerns for its staff.

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.”

Concerns about the huge amounts of smoke, odors, and questions over potential threats to pets and wild animals were some of the issues that came up during Wednesday’s meeting.

Why are they keeping it quiet? Kathy commented on 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.

“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.

The Norfolk Southern Water Wells Program During the 2016 Pennsylvania Rail Accident: Public Awareness and Public Concerns About the State’s Environmental Protection Agency

The state’s Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that the latest tests show water from five wells supplying the village’s drinking water are free from contaminants. But the EPA also is recommending testing for private water wells because they are closer to the surface.

The $1 million fund is being formed by Norfolk Southern to help the community of some 4,700 people while continuing work, including removing spills from the ground and streams and monitoring air quality.

“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 are investing in helping East Palestine thrive for the long-term, and we will continue to be in 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.”

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 pollutants can create odors or symptoms, according to Ohio’s health director.

The Norfolk Southern train wreck is being assessed by EPA Administrator Michael Regan in East Palestine. In the aftermath of the crisis, the administrator talks to city, state, and federal leaders and hears directly from residents about the effects of the crisis.

Speaking to CNN’s Jason Carroll Thursday morning, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said the agency has full authority to use its enforcement capabilities over the crisis.

Regan told CNN that the company signed a notice of accountability and will 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 overriding concern for everybody involved is … a lot of these people don’t have municipal water supplies, but instead they rely on wells. The biggest concern for them is whether the chemicals dissipated over time and ended up in the waterways. Are they ever going to make it into the well water?

Frustration and Disturbance in East Palestine: A Post-Train Detonation Roadmap for a Northeastern Railway Community

Hundreds of East Palestine residents attended a town hall Wednesday night to express their frustrations and mounting distrust. The operator of the train agreed to attend but then withdrew due to safety concerns.

The emergency response effort has turned into an environmental clean out that is the responsibility of the railroad according to EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday he has requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention immediately send medical experts to East Palestine to evaluate and counsel community members with questions or health symptoms.

In the event of a disaster, the emergency response teams will have plans in place to prevent the release of pollutants that are not yet removed from the site, 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.

I am concerned about how many of those kids are laying in their bed in East Palestine. “I absolutely do not trust them.”

“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 apologize, but we had only one option. If we didn’t do that, then they were going to blow up, and we were going to have shrapnel all across this town.”

Why I’m Not Going There, But I Want to Make Sure That the Village Ignore You. Sacramento OHIO Train Derailment East Palestine Thursday

“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’m not going anywhere.

“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’re testing for everything. We’re testing for everything that was on that train. So we feel comfortable that we are casting a net wide enough to present 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 missed the meeting because it was close to where the train derailed, according to a man who lives nearby.

Velez and his family are temporarily staying away from the town. He was in the town Monday and reported a chemical odor that made him want to sleep and gave him headaches.

They had to go, despite the fact that most people did not want to. So, all the people who had to go home were complaining of smells, pains in their throat, headaches, sickness,” he said. I have gone back a few times and the smell makes me sick. It hurts your head.

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

An angry citizen’s view of the fate of contaminated air and water near the east Palestine railroad wreck where Jami Cozza stayed in a hotel

I was angry that they didn’t show up for the meeting. The public needs to be transparent, he said. “The public deserves to have the latest information. And so it’s our job, as the federal government, to hold this company accountable, and I promise you we will.”

Jami Cozza is staying in a hotel due to toxicity from the train wreck that occurred near her home in East Palestine.

According to Cozza, the railroad company told her it was safe to come home after air testing. She wanted the railroad company to conduct soil and water tests and then she wanted a toxicologist to deem her home unsafe.

Cozza did not use his voice, but he said he would have been sitting in that house if he didn’t.

Ms. Guglielmo is one of many people in the region who are looking for ways to conduct their own independent tests because of their distrust of Norfolk Southern and the government.

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.

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.

The Norfolk Southern EPA Clean-Up Strategy Explains the ATV East Palestine Collision, but Not as Designed to Prevent it

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.

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

“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.

More than $6 million has been committed by the company to date in East Palestine, and over $3.8 million was given to families impacted by the accident.

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, CEO Alan Shaw responded to criticism from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, saying the company invests more than $1 billion a year in “science-based” safety solutions, including maintaining tracks, equipment and technology.

“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 what we can do differently and what we should be doing better.”

The EPA was praised for taking charge of the clean up from the crash, which occurred less than a mile from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

Shaw did not comment on potential causes in the CNBC interview. The Federal Railroad Administration is looking into the cause of the Norfolk Southern train wreck.

EPA cleanup of East Palestine, Ohio, prompted by the recent rail-boson crash site and health concerns from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine

The weekend announcement came just days after the EPA announced it was assuming control of the cleanup efforts in East Palestine following the train derailment earlier this month, which resulted in the release of hazardous chemicals into the soil and air and prompted health and safety concerns from residents in the town and nearby.

Ohio state officials have opened a health clinic in East Palestine for residents who believe they may have health issues as a result of the derailment, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.

“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.

The work to fix the crash site was still going on, DeWine said. About 4,600 cubic yards of soil and 1.1 million gallons contaminated water have been removed so far.

President Joe Biden was in agreement with the sentiment Tuesday and called the EPA order common sense. This is their filthy mess, that’s why. They should clean it up,” the president said of Norfolk Southern in an Instagram post.

The governor of Pennsylvania says state environmental officials made a criminal referral against Norfolk Southern. The law allows the attorney general of Ohio to take actions, according to Mike DeWine.

Air and water quality testing has been completed and so far has found no danger to the residents of the small village near the Pennsylvania border.

To quell some concerns about the safety of the tap water, DeWine and Regan sipped from glasses at a home in East Palestine, Ohio.

The Times of the Ohio Toxic Train Derailment: A Statewide Report on the East Palestine Train Operating Procedures and Public Health Concerns

The train operator gave incorrect information to Pennsylvania’s governor and he refused to explore alternative courses of action in the days after the toxic wreck.

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.

The EPA says that air monitors and indoor air screening continue. Municipal water samples show no water quality concerns, the agency says.

After federal officials released an initial report concluding that this month’s toxic train wreck in Ohio was completely preventable, investigators will begin examining procedures, practices and design prior to the derailment that has sparked long-term concerns among hundreds of frustrated residents.

President Biden called on Congress to help implement rail safety measures, while accusing the Trump administration oflimiting the government’s ability to strengthen rail safety measures.

Biden wrote in a post that this was more than a train accident and that it was years of opposition to safety measures coming 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.

As crews continue to clean up the toxic wreck, East Palestine residents are still concerned about potential impact on their homes.

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 is he saying? Why did he hear about the EPA’s report of shortness of breath, or respiratory failure? — Reply to Proia

The EPA administrator asked anyone concerned about the reported symptoms toseek medical attention, saying he was not discounting what people were experiencing.

“I believe people when they say that they’re 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.”

“We need our town cleaned up, we need our residents to feel safe in their homes,” Conaway said at Tuesday news conference. That is the number one thing. You will never feel safe anywhere if you don’t feel safe in your home.

What is he? Nicholas Proia is a clinical professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University and a pulmonologist in the area.

What are people saying? There was a rise in patients after the derailment, but Proia hadn’t experienced it.

We haven’t seen a lot of respiratory illness come in. 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.

Preliminary Results from a Large Fire: Assessing the Causes and Preventing Impact to the Sulphur Run and Leslie Run Streams

You’re only going to find what you’re looking for, that’s a caveat. And who knows what else is out there, especially after a large fire with a bunch of different, pretty interesting chemicals.

Contractors with the EPA install booms and underflow dams to restrict the flow of contaminated water as well as contain and collect floating product to mitigate any possible impacts to the Sulphur Run and Leslie Run streams, they say.

Officials issue a shelter-in-place order for the entire town of roughly 5,000 people. There is an risk of an explosion that led to an order for the area within a mile to be evacuated.

EPA is assisting with voluntary residential air screening appointments offered by Norfolk Southern, the agency says. Crews have screened indoor air at a total of 46 homes. There are more than 400 requests for air screening left.

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

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

Community air monitoring in East Palestine after a train crash on February 7: Finding spilled materials at the South Side of Sulphur Run

Three aeration pump locations are located along the confluence with Sulphur Run. Aeration helps treat contamination by injecting oxygen into the water. The East Palestine water treatment plant confirms there was no adverse effects to the plant, the EPA says. Contractors from the EPA and Norfolk Southern collect surface water samples.

The EPA collects air samples in conjunction with the Ohio National Guard’s 52nd Civil Support Team, which is a specialized unit, for analysis.

Feb. 7 — Residents in the area are told they may smell odors coming from the site because the byproducts of the controlled burn have a low odor threshold – meaning people may smell these contaminants at levels much lower than what is considered hazardous, the EPA says.

The EPA says it is investigating a complaint of odors from the Darlington Township, Pennsylvania, fire station. A team with air monitoring equipment goes to the station, where it does not observe any contaminants above 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. A vacuum truck is being used to remove the product from the spill.

Some residents still have concerns despite officials deeming the air and water samples safe. Residents are encouraged to get their homes deep cleaned and seek medical attention, if necessary, officials say at a press conference.

EPA discontinues phosgene and hydrogen chloride community air monitoring. After the fire was extinguished on February 8, the threat of vinyl chloride fire producing phosgene and hydrogen chloride no longer exists. The EPA will continue monitoring for other chemicals.

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

Monitoring EPA Cleansing Services to Residents and Business Owners: CNN’s Associated Public Citizen Report on the Ostensa-Palmer Air Quality Assessment

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.

Local leaders take questions from residents who are angry and distrust officials, including 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.

“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. The flooding of new contaminants will occur every time it rains.

The Governor says there is no cause for concern as far as the air quality in homes that were tested for air quality is concerned.

The liquid waste will be sent to an underground injection well in Ohio. “Norfolk Southern will also beghin shipping solid waste to the Heritage Incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio.”

People whose symptoms may be linked to the train accident will be able to get a health clinic from the state.

The EPA will conduct an additional layer of reassurance by administering the cleaning services to residents and businesses.

Investigation of a February 3 Ohio train crash using wayside defects and rail car inspection practices: A report by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office

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.

The second thing is that they will fully pay for it. We will do the cleaning up ourselves if we have to because they refuse to do anything. They can be fined up to $70,000 per day, the EPA chief said.

We’ll be able to charge them three times of the federal government’s cost when we recover our total costs. The law provides that.

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.

The chair of the safety board said that one of the train’s cars carrying plastic was heated by a hot axle which caused the initial fire. As the temperature of the bearing got hotter, the train passed by two wayside defect detectors that did not trigger an audible alarm message because the heat threshold was not met at that point, Homendy explained. A third detector eventually picked up the high temperature, but it was already too late by then.

“This was 100% preventable. … There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable,” Homendy said during a news conference Thursday. “The NTSB has one goal, and that is safety and ensuring that this never happens again.”

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

East Palestine’s Jim Stewart, the lead engineer of the Norfolk Southern locomotive, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on February 3. The crash: “I have no idea”

People who live in East Palestine say they have not been given attention for their complaints of headaches, rash and other ailments they believe are related to the disaster.

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. “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.”

The intense exchanges left residents frustrated as they said officials dodged their pressing questions, deepening their mistrust in the cleanup process.

East Palestine’s Jim Stewart is a lifelong resident who told Shaw that he felt like his health was in danger because of the crash.

“Did you shorten my life now? I want to retire and enjoy it. How are we going to enjoy it? You burned me,” Stewart said, addressing Shaw. You have made me angry.

Shaw declined on Wednesday to answer repeated questions from residents regarding the crash investigation and details about what could have caused the derailment, saying he was “prohibited” from talking about the probe.

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

What Can We Do About the East Palestine Environmental Contamination Problem? CNN’s Ericka Copeland Comments on the Investigative Report from Norfolk Southern

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

Norfolk Southern also plans to review the results of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation as well as use data to “figure out what we could’ve done better,” said Shaw, adding the company has already implemented new internal safety measures.

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 in East Palestine, residents are still waiting for answers.

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.

Across the border in Ohio, residents say they didn’t know how to clean their home’s interiors.

Residents of East Palestine aren’t prepared for a disaster: Health impacts of the trains carrying highly volatile hazardous chemical samples, as observed by OrSANCO and REGAN

Pete Buttigieg toured East Palestine on Thursday for the first time since the disaster, and called for the railroad industry to do more to implement higher safety standards. 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.

More recent tests by ORSANCO indicate that butyl acrylate is no longer being detected, probably due to dilation and chemical breakdown, as it is well known for being volatile. The water tests have limits on levels. The government scientists did not detect vinyl chloride in the samples.

Here’s something else that gives me pause: health impacts on the residents of East Palestine, which may not be evident today, but could surface in time.

Eric Beckman, a co-founder of the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation and a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, explained last week that what occurred in East Palestine amounts to an “uncontrolled chemical reaction.”

Mike DeWine didn’t issue a disaster declaration so far. A spokesman for the governor has said he might revisit the idea if the circumstances warrant it. While the decision is being delayed, East Palestine residents are forced to pay for hotel lodgings because of the toxic chemicals they are exposed to.

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.

The communities were not ready for a 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.

That should be the case even — and perhaps especially — when their community is being used as a thoroughfare for hauling unchecked cargo across hundreds of miles of railway tracks.

State Sensitivities to the Derailment of the ‘Waste Shipment’ in East Palestine after the Cleveland-Sundrum-U.S. Nuclear Collision

The Environmental Protection Agency over the weekend approved resuming shipments of the contaminated waste to two EPA-certified sites in Ohio: Heritage Thermal Services in East Liverpool and Vickery Environmental in Vickery.

“We have instructed Norfolk Southern to pause but only temporarily and we are going to resume transporting the contaminated waste very soon,” 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.

“We were not given a heads up on this reported action,” Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell said in a statement. Our priority is to make sure everyone we represent is safe.

The Chief Executive of Texas was upset that she did not know about the water shipments from the news media, even though the company she was talking about had been hired to dispose of the water.

“These locations regularly accept this type of material and were chosen due to their specific ability and necessary permitting to dispose of these types of waste,” Spielmaker said Saturday in an emailed statement to NPR. They are working with the US EPA to bring back waste removal in East Palestine.

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.

Every aspect of disposing hazardous waste will be monitored by federal, state and local governments, Shore said on Sunday.

Texas and Michigan complained that they were not warned that the hazardous waste from the crash was going to be sent to them.

The Michigan and Ohio EPA approved sites are currently not accepting any more shipments, but they are being asked to see if they have the capacity to accept more in the future.

All rail cars, except for those held by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), have been removed from the site of the derailment, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Anne Vogel said in an update Sunday.

The Ohio Department of Transportation and Environment announced its commitment to East Palestine, Ohio, for the disposal of hazardous water after the Ohio firefighting accident

“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 that it had been hired to dispose of potentially dangerous water from the Ohio train wreck. The company said they had experts with more than four decades of experience in managing water safely and that all shipments, so far, had come by truck for the entire trip.

A White House official said federal teams were going door to door in East Palestine to check in with residents and give out flyers after President Joe Biden directed the move.

A 19-person scientific team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into what the residents experienced after the train wreck.

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.

According to DeWine, about 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste remained at the East Palestine storage site on Saturday. Additional solid and liquid wastes are being generated as the cleanup progresses, he added.

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.

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 EPA regional administrator said at the news conference that the hazardous waste material is being processed.

The mayor of East Liverpool, one of the towns set to incinerate the waste, expressed concerns about the process but said the EPA has assured him that everyone has been following necessary guidelines.

Mayor Gregory T. Bricker said that the city has a 2-year-old daughter. “But, again, I think this is a state-of-the-art facility that can handle this type of waste.”

The people of East Palestine deserve to be the ones to move the pollution out of the community. Shore spoke to people in the area and he said everyone wants it to go away.

Acrolein, a toxic chemical monitoring agent at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and a proposal for four more monitoring wells

Up to three more will be drilled after the soil under the rails is excavated, and four wells have been installed. 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.

A data analysis of the EPA’s pollutant measurements suggests nine of the dozens of chemicals the agency has been monitoring are higher than normally would be found there, according scientists from Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon universities.

The scientists said that if the levels of chemicals remain high, it could pose a problem for health over time. High winds stir up chemicals and they can be released into the atmosphere.

The EPA is using an extremely rigorous standard when it comes to waste disposal, according to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

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 is an associate research Professor of mechanical engineering and has been working on the university’s energy innovation project.

A Safety Advisory Against Heavy-Ion Collisions at 2 PM ET and 5.5 AM Frequency Railroad Cooperative Sites

The agency approved two sites in Ohio to handle the safe disposal of waste.

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 violation fines for rail companies and accelerating the timeline for bringing in fortified tank cars that are less likely to spill when there’s a derailment, Buttigieg told CNN.

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.”

The Biden administration sources tell CNN that Norfolk Southern will be one of the major freight rail companies to take part in the voluntary safety reporting program.

Several of the tank cars had aluminum coverings that were made to protect the valves and relieve the pressure on the tank cars.

“In this instance, the aluminum housing covers melted in the fire caused from the derailment,” a PHMSA spokesperson told CNN. “That’s why we are issuing this Safety Advisory … that requests all rail companies review their fleets to determine if they have aluminum protective coverings and consider actions including replacing these covers with steel that can withstand greater exposure to heat and fire.”

Pete Buttigieg gave the CEOs of the companies a week to inform him of their decision after he sent a letter asking them to join the reporting system.

The agency has stated that it can make emergency recommendations at any time during its investigation.

The Norfolk Southern Clean-up of the Wreck in Cleveland, Ohio, was backed out of town hall by an EPA employee union

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 unions for workers wrote a letter to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, saying crews involved in the clean-up reported symptoms as well. 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.” The governor said that the sampling would start on Friday.

The federal EPA will require Norfolk Southern to test in East Palestine for dioxins, a kind of environmental pollutant. Dioxins are considered to have significant toxicity and can cause disease, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The release said the EPA will continue sampling forindicator chemicals, which suggest a low probability for release of dioxin from this incident.

She said that the levels being detected in water sampling are lower than the hazard level for the compound in drinking water, and that she didn’t know whether there could be longterm health effects. A health study currently underway may be able to help shed light on that, she said.