The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told residents near a toxic train derailment in eastern Ohio that it is safe to return home, but the locals have serious concerns.
“For days, authorities have been telling residents of the area around East Palestine, Ohio, that it is safe to return home after a 150-car train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed February 3rd.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the chemical spill resulting from the derailment had killed an estimated 3,500 small fish across 7½ miles of streams as of Wednesday.
For some people who live near the derailment site, the reports continue to spur fear that they and their animals might be exposed to chemicals through the air, water and soil.
‘Don’t tell me it’s safe. Something is going on if the fish are floating in the creek’, Cathey Reese, who lives in Negley, Ohio, told NBC affiliate WPXI of Pittsburgh last week. Reese said she saw dead fish in a stream that flows through her backyard.
Jenna Giannios, 39, a wedding photographer in nearby Boardman, said she has had a persistent cough for the past week and a half. She has been drinking bottled water, and she is uncomfortable bathing in water from the bathroom spigot, she said.
‘They only evacuated only 1 mile from that space, and that’s just insane to me’, she said, coughing throughout the conversation. ‘I’m concerned with the long-term heath impact. It’s just a mess’.
The Environmental Protection Agency warned area residents of possible lingering odors but noted that the byproducts of vinyl chloride can emit smells at levels lower than what is considered hazardous.
Ohio officials said Wednesday that residents could return home after air quality samples ‘showed readings at points below safety screening levels for contaminants of concern’.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing the air quality testing, said, ‘Air monitoring since the fire went out has not detected any levels of concern in the community that can be attributed to the incident at this time’.
The Environmental Protection Agency classifies vinyl chloride as a carcinogen; routine exposure could increase one's risk of liver damage or liver cancer. Short-term exposure to high concentrations can cause drowsiness, loss of coordination, disorientation, nausea, headache or burning or tingling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Andrew Whelton, a professor of environmental and ecological engineering at Purdue University, said it's possible the burn created additional compounds the Environmental Protection Agency might not be testing for.
Whelton added that some of the other chemicals the train carried could also cause headaches, nausea, vomiting or skin irritation.
In Darlington, Pennsylvania, 4 miles from the accident, managers of the Kindred Spirits Rescue Ranch evacuated 77 of their biggest animals, including a yak and a zebu, for two days.
‘We could see the plume come up and over us’, said the ranch's founder, Lisa Marie Sopko. ‘Our eyes were burning, and my face could feel it’.
Sopko said she’s concerned about the conditions. The ranch's water comes from its own two wells, but until experts can test them, Sopko said, her team is using one well with a more sophisticated filtration system.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture said the risk to livestock remains low.
‘ODA has not received any official reports regarding the wellness of animals related to the incident’, it said in a statement.
Still, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation is urging members to get the water from their local wells tested as soon as possible”.-Aria Bendix and David K. Li, NBC News
It appears likely that the matter is significantly more dire than had been initially reported.
While the corporate media has been covering the story as a disastrous mishap, there have been various reports of fish and wildlife dying and reporters getting arrested.
Combined with news stories of mass die-offs in livestock, "hundreds of dead fish" have been found belly up in Leslie Run stream in East Palestine, Ohio.
Not only that, but the release of the chemical load has caused a huge “Chernobyl-like” toxic cloud to form over the area.
The northeast Ohio region is one of the most fertile regions of the United States, while the Ohio River provides drinking water to over five million people.