Residents anxious and wary as they return to Ohio town after toxic train derailment

Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have been told it is safe to go home after a train carrying toxic chemicals was released earlier this month. But many still fear, distrust and doubt.

Maura Todd and her husband returned to the city briefly on the weekend for the first time since the derailment fire, February 3, and the subsequent toxic plume from the controlled burn, sent residents fleeing for safety.

“We were in there for about 15 minutes when we started to feel like it was dry and tight in the throat,” Todd said. As it happens hosted by Nil Köksal. “We both started to feel nauseous, a little dizzy, almost like car sickness.”

He stayed at home until most of Saturday, then left again in the evening. The next day, he tried again – just to make sure it wasn’t all in his head. When the same thing happened again, he turned around and returned to Kentucky, where he lived with his family.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it had been monitoring air quality in the affected area 24 hours a day since the derailment fire broke out on February 8, and “did not detect any level of public health concern caused by the train derailment.”

When asked for comment, train operator Norfolk Southern Railway referred to the EPA’s statement.

A fiery crash, and a poisonous plume

About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed Feb. 3 in the Ohio village of about 5,000, near the border with Pennsylvania.

No one was injured in the derailment, which investigators say was caused by a broken axle.

Three days later, the authorities carried out what is known as a controlled release of vinyl chloride – a carcinogenic gas used to make plastics – in five tanker cars, sending hydrogen chloride and the poisonous gases phosgene into the air, creating a toxic plume.

The purpose of this control release is to prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion at the derailment site. Before the procedure, officials ordered people in and around the city to evacuate.

On February 8, with the assurance of the EPA, the appointed officials lifted the evacuation order, and the residents from then on.

Melissa Henry – who returned shortly after the order was lifted – told The Associated Press she had been feeling “like a nervous freaking wreck.”

Answer: The first thing he did, he said, throw out everything left on the kitchen counters and open all the windows.

“Is it true or not? You just don’t know,” she said. “It was a nightmare. It’s still there.”

Since then, she and her children have been busy washing clothes, changing the filter in the furnace and cleaning everything.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we have to do something,” he said.

Others, like Todd, have complained of headaches, bad smells, poor air quality and the lingering effects of the derailment.

Eric Whitining told the Washington Post that since returning, he noticed the air smelled like “an over-chlorinated swimming pool.” His eyes burned, he said, but he and his family had nowhere else to go.

“For a small town, we have to be trusted, because what else do we have to do?” Whiting said. “We have to trust that they are not lying to us.”

‘This will not be swept under the rug’

The EPA said it had been “boots-on-the-ground, conducting vigorous air quality testing” since it was first alerted to the derailment.

“We continue to conduct 24/7 air monitoring to ensure the health and safety of residents,” EPA regional administrator Debra Shore said in an emailed statement to As It Happened.

Shore said the EPA is offering voluntary screenings at residents’ homes. As of Tuesday, it had checked 396 homes “and no detection of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride was identified.”

East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway acknowledged people remain frustrated by the persistent odor, and promised the village “isn’t just taking word of mouth” from Norfolk Southern Railway, but is basing its decisions on verified data from the EPA.

The village’s drinking water system is also tested daily and is safe, he said.

He said his main concern was the residents and their health, and he promised to take responsibility for South Norfolk.

“It’s not going to be swept under the rug. I’m not going to be a country bumpkin who gets, you know, talked about by a big company,” Conaway told the Associated Press.

“We’re going to hold his feet to the fire. He’s going to do what he says, and he’s going to protect the people of this city.”

The EPA also released a list on Sunday from Norfolk Southern of chemicals on trains, and rail cars that were violated.

Some of the stolen cars contained ethylhexyl acrylate, used to make adhesives, and butyl acrylate. The latter can cause irritation in or on the eyes, skin, upper respiratory system, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.

‘Traumatic families and children’

Meanwhile, Todd decided to stay in Kentucky until he was sure his hometown was safe. He didn’t know when it would happen, and he said he couldn’t believe it what the official said.

Some residents have filed a federal lawsuit to force Norfolk Southern to set up health monitoring for residents in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Todd said he was considering joining.

“We chose that community to move to because we like the small-town, small-community vibe,” he said.

“And I think it’s sad that this company, Norfolk Southern, has come in and introduced all these chemicals into our communities, traumatized families and children, and then wants to act like everything can be business as usual.”