Et took ten days for the US Secretary of Transportation to comment publicly on the train accident involving dangerous chemicals in Ohio. And another ten days before Pete Buttigieg finally hit East Palestine to see for himself. He will “think about” whether it was a mistake to wait so long, he told journalists in the small town on Thursday. But for many of the town’s residents, the damage has long since been done.
Three weeks after a Norfolk Southern railroad train derailed in East Palestine and released toxic chemicals, the situation there has still not calmed down. The authorities repeat mantra-like that air and drinking water samples are unremarkable, but the residents remain sceptical. A mother reported on CNN on Wednesday evening that her son had nosebleeds every day after returning from the hotel to his own house. You yourself have skin rashes. Other residents of East Palestine speak of foul smells, headaches and nausea. All symptoms of a collective panic?
Environmental activists advise people in the area to have any abnormalities medically documented. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in the CNN round of talks that “everything is not perfect” yet. Several watercourses in the area would be monitored, there are waters in which “no one should go in”. Video footage showed oily streaks on a small river. First there was talk of about 3500 dead fish; Finally, on Thursday, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the chemicals had killed nearly 44,000 fish.
“No evidence of human error”
In order to prevent the burning train wagons from exploding, the authorities released the vinyl chloride in a “controlled manner” on February 6th. At the time, it was said that “toxic and potentially deadly substances” were released into the air. Burning vinyl chloride produces hydrogen chloride and phosgene. The former can lead to severe chemical burns, phosgene was used in World War I as a chemical warfare agent. Donald Trump used the heated discussions about how to deal with the accident during a visit to East Palestine for his political purposes as a presidential candidate. On Wednesday, he described the Biden government’s response there as “treason.”
A preliminary report by the traffic safety authority on Thursday describes the course of the accident in detail. According to this, a heat alarm was triggered in East Palestine by a sensor through a heated wheel bearing, whereupon the train staff initiated the braking. There was an automatic emergency brake and the train came to a standstill. Authorities chief Jennifer Homendy said in Washington: “There is no evidence that the staff did anything wrong.” She does not understand why the issue has become “so political”, it is “about a community that is suffering”.
The American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked “Norfolk Southern” this week to pay for the clean-up work in East Palestine. EPA chief Michael Regan vowed at a press conference that the railroad would “pay for the mess it caused.” That could not undo what happened, but “bring the urgently needed justice”.