Norfolk Southern Railroad and the Environmental Protection Agency released a list of chemicals and hazardous materials on Sunday carried by a train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
The derailment, which occurred on February 3, caused a fire that lasted several days. Officials decided to initiate a controlled release of the chemicals to mitigate the risk of an explosion; all residents within one mile of the crash site were told to evacuate, although they were permitted to return to their homes on February 8.
Norfolk Southern provided the EPA with a list of cars affected by the crash and the chemicals they were carrying. The company said all five cars containing vinyl chloride have been “stabilized” after the material was burned by crews, forming massive plumes of dark smoke that were visible in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
Vinyl chloride is described by the National Cancer Institute as a carcinogen linked to a rare form of liver cancer called hepatic angiosarcoma, as well as lymphoma, leukemia, and various forms of brain and lung cancers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration only permits exposure of one part per million during an industrial worker’s eight-hour shift.
“If a water supply is contaminated, vinyl chloride can enter household air when the water is used for showering, cooking, or laundry,” the agency said.
One train car containing ethylene glycol monobutyl ether currently has an “unknown status,” according to Norfolk Southern. The highly combustible liquid is used to manufacture paints and varnish; ingestion or skin contact can cause headache, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A second car was carrying isobutylene, a flammable gas that can induce “dizziness, drowsiness, and unconsciousness” when moderate concentrations are inhaled, according to another report from the agency. Norfolk Southern said there are “no signs” of a breach for the car containing the substance.
A third train car was transporting ethylhexyl acrylate, a combustible liquid used to make paints and plastics. The amount of the chemical remaining in the car is “pending,” according to Norfolk Southern. The substance has been identified as a carcinogen in laboratory experiments, according to a report from the National Library of Medicine.
Government regulators and public utilities have expressed concern over chemicals released from the derailment. West Virginia American Water, the largest investor-owned water utility in the state of West Virginia, said in a statement that the company has not detected any change to raw water from its Ohio River intake but has “enhanced its treatment processes” as a “precautionary measure.” No drinking water advisories are currently in place for customers.
Federal investigators said an issue with a rail car axle caused the derailment. Footage obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette showed that the Norfolk Southern train had traveled more than 20 miles with a malfunctioning rail car axle. National Transportation Safety Board Member Michael Graham confirmed during a news conference that there were “preliminary indications of mechanical issues” for the axle, according to a report from CBS Pittsburgh.
Nothing $5/ per resident shouldn’t take care of…
Sadly though $25K is the change in the couch cushions. 
The publicly traded company, which has a market value of $55 billion
If Trump was still president there would be endless articles, news stories and reddit threads blaming him and saying if he did this and that it would’ve been prevented. Since it’s a democrat the programming is to ignore and deny bad stuff.
Lots of very bad stuff being released.
Hydrogen Chloride becomes Hydrochloric Acid on contact with water vapor in the air but is probably not the worst of it.
The ongoing silence around this disaster indicates just how bad it is.
When a disaster strikes, people are very slow in getting the hell out and eventually succumb to disease, etc. Hard to leave the comfort zone, I guess.
You can’t predict earthquakes and there’s no escape, but you could run and save yourself from aftershocks, diseases, etc.
Damages and injuries from hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones can be avoided by getting out one day ahead.
As for tsunami, it’s possible to know minutes ahead of the time because of hi-tech observations nowadays. Many victims are thus stupid to ignore the warnings and stay around to be washed away.
As for the Ohio disaster, I wonder what makes the residents to stick around. Jobs and schools, maybe. But are they worth?
It is ridiculous that the media has painted an incomplete and distorted picture of this environmental disaster. Their failure to properly investigate and disseminate accurate information has been damaging to efforts to spread awareness about what is actually going on in Ohio - especially considering the scale of this ecological disaster. Despite the high stakes, too often mainstream reporting has failed to ask hard questions and take the necessary steps to get us closer to the truth and the long-range impact of this disaster. We need more responsible journalism in this country.
They are literally arresting journalists for trying to cover this.
That’s the last thing you’d ever want to do is blow that shit up…that substance, when not cured (as was the case) is probably the worst carcinogen known to man. I think “they” wanted to cause a huge disaster so they derailed the train on purpose, and then for no conceivable reason put explosives on the tanks and blew them up on puropse. A side comment here - something that is getting censored but I have known about since the 80’s - un-cured polyvinyl chloride is BAAAD, I found out about that after someone I knew had to walk into a cleanup scene and died of cancer within 2 months. You cannot expose yourself to un-cured liquid PVC fumes NO MATTER WHAT. Cured it is fine, un-cured it’s one of the worst things there is.
I REPEAT: THEY DERAILED A TRAIN CARRYING PERHAPS THE WORST CHEMICAL CARGO POSSIBLE AND THEN DETONATED EVERY SINGLE CAR CARRYING THAT SUBSTANCE ON PURPOSE, right in the middle of the most prime farm land in the country. That’s a clear and obvious act of war waged on the United States by the government.
One thing that’s really upsetting about this dangerous train derailment is that Ukraine and now Turkey have gotten non-stop attention. Is the US waiting for people to start croaking before they get serious about doing something?
These chemicals will be affecting thousands of people downstream and downwind from this disaster.
PBS interviewed Gov.DeWine. His main point is he is depending on his science staff to monitor contamination and is holding the railroad responsible for the removal of poisoned soil and complete remediation.
So, does that staff have the credentials and resources to do a proper job? Does any Republican governor care 10% as much for citizens as they do for corporations? Is their science based on the book of Genesis?
Color me skeptical - but it was the Governor in this case who ordered his National Guard to detonate the cars carrying the vinyl chloride in the first place.
They do not.
DeWine’s statement should be interpreted as “I am passing the buck to my science staff”. Once it comes out that the contamination is more widespread and dangerous than first let on, he’ll throw said science staff under the bus.
More likely, they will blame the company (rightfully) and also point to the US EPA, which gave the air quality its blessing early on in the catastrophe.
Damn - since you guys are playing show and tell, here’s what I’m bringing to the party!
He is to busy sticking objects up his ass and grooming children to worry about the Ohio Disaster
I’ll just color you an idiot with commentary like that.
It feels like Ohio is being punished for being a swing state.
It must suck knowing you only got this life and the realization you approach death is an inevitability. Get your cancer screening while you can, denigrating others for their religious beliefs won’t make you better!