On February 3, 50 train cars derailed in the small town of East Palestine in Ohio including about 20 cars carrying hazardous chemicals. Due to that, the government imposed an evacuation order on residents and lifted it on February 8. The Norfolk Southern freight train was found to be carrying vinyl chloride and authorities are now assessing the air and water quality for people to return home.
As of Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said that the chemical waste has killed an estimated 3,500 tiny fish across 7.5 miles of streams
Workers clean up a CSX train derailment June 18, 2001 in Wilmington, OH, 60 miles southwest of Columbus. The train derailed on June 17, spilling hazardous materials into a nearby creek.
Things To Know About the Recent Ohio Train Derailment
According to officials, no one was killed when a broken axle drove the Norfolk Southern train careening off the rails. More than 2,000 households were evacuated because of health concerns related to the chemical spill, but they have already been permitted to return.
The Independent reports that toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether were discharged into the air, surface soils, and surface waters from some of the crashed autos.
Crews purposefully ruptured five train car tanks of vinyl chloride, diverting the liquid to a dug trench. To avoid an explosion, a controlled detonation was performed, sending toxic black clouds sweeping across the region. Phosgene was one of the chemical compounds released, which is a gas used as a chemical weapon during World War I.
Norfolk Southern said this week that environmental cleanup work was continuing, as well as air, soil, and water monitoring in collaboration with state and federal agencies. According to regulators, the air quality has been safe thus far, and drinking water sources in adjacent villages have not been impacted.
However, there have been an increased number of residents experiencing sickness after ten days since the incident. Residents have spoken of headaches and feeling sick, like the East Palestine resident Melissa Henry whose sons' eyes turned red as a tomato and were coughing a lot.
She sent her boys to her parents' house and although not sure, she had been busy doing laundry, cleaning, and changing the filters in the furnace since returning to her home.
How Dangerous Are Those Chemicals?
As per The Washington Post, five of the derailed tanker cars were carrying the hazardous, odorless chemical called vinyl chloride. In the US, it is used in the manufacturing of plastics and is found in everyday items, like packaging materials, housewares, as well as wire and cable coatings.
Vinyl chloride is also a carcinogen linked to causing liver cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that inhaling vinyl chloride for an extended period of time could lead to brain cancer, lung cancer, and some form of blood cancer. However, most studies available are about long exposure to the chemical and not so much about its sudden release like the case in Ohio.
Chemical & Engineering News reports that the burning of this chemical releases hydrogen chloride and phosgene which have a lethal effect. The recent Ohio train derailment raises questions about the safe rail transportation of vinyl chloride and chemicals alike and shines a light on the general safety of the rail.
Watch the video below by NewsNation to know more details about the Ohio train derailment incident:
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