Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) recently made the claim that the air quality in the area surrounding the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was basically the same both before the derailment incident and after government officials kicked off a controlled burn of chemicals at the crash site, even as high numbers of residents continue to report to officials numerous severe health issues.
Both state and local authorities chose to previously evacuate all residents living within a one-mile radius of the crash site and then started a controlled burn-off of spilled industrial chemicals to reduce the risk of an even more dangerous explosion. A large amount of Vinyl chloride, a caustic carcinogen that is known to be able to quickly contaminate water supplies, was released from a group of five train cars in what were seen to be gigantic plumes of dark smoke which could be spotted throughout eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, sparking extreme concerns about both the water and air quality in the Ohio River Basin.
DeWine explained to the gathered media this past Tuesday evening as part of a press conference that recently conducted air tests that had been carried out by members of the Ohio National Guard deployed to the area of the derailment clad in protective gear reportedly stated that the air quality was “basically what it was prior to the actual train crash.” The report from the official took place as residents continue to report a high level of very worrying symptoms.
“A large number of firefighters, police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and state troopers have experienced many symptoms including a bad cough, headaches, sore throat, and diarrhea,” explained one of the first responders on Tuesday evening, adding that his own symptoms plagued him for two days after he departed the area. “The same symptoms were reported by residents who did not evacuate.”
A few days after the noxious chemicals had been turned off the residents were told they could safely go back to their homes, officials with the Environmental Protection Agency made public a list of all the other industrial chemicals which had been released due at the derailment site that had been given to them by executives from Norfolk Southern. One of the cars was holding ethylene glycol monobutyl ether is presently still marked as having an “unknown status,” as reported by Norfolk Southern, while the levels of ethylhexyl acrylate from a different car is still labeled “pending.” The first chemical is known to cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness, while the latter has been identified as a carcinogen in laboratory experiments.
