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 Feb. 3.
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.
And one resident of North Lima, more than 10 miles from East Palestine, told WKBN-TV of Youngstown that her five hens and rooster died suddenly Tuesday. The day before, rail operator Norfolk Southern had burned train cars carrying vinyl chloride — a flammable gas — to prevent an explosion.
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.”
After the controlled burn, 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 EPA, 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.”
However, the EPA said Friday in a letter to Norfolk Southern that chemicals carried on the train “continue to be released to the air, surface soils, and surface waters.”
The EPA said that as of Saturday evening, it had screened the indoor air in 210 homes and hadn’t detected vinyl chloride. Another 218 homes had yet to be screened as of Sunday, it said.
