(NewsNation) — One year after a Norfolk Southern train hauling hazardous chemicals derailed and created havoc and health concerns for about 4,600 residents of East Palestine, Ohio, a bevy of questions still looms over the border community and about who bears responsibility in forever changing the town’s landscape.
Ever since a toxic plume of black smoke filled the air of the northeastern town that sits on the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line, residents are still dealing with the aftermath — including lingering health issues — and has cost the rail company $1 billion.
NewsNation has been committed to covering the fallout of the East Palestine train derailment over the last year. Here are the most recent updates:
- EPA ‘failed to protect’ East Palestine residents after train derailment: Whistleblower
- East Palestine health issues persist one year after Ohio train derailment
- East Palestine creeks visibly contaminated year after train derailment
- President Biden to visit site of East Palestine toxic train wreck
- Cleanup costs exceed $1 billion Norfolk Southern announced layoffs
- Ohio train derailment: Have cleanup demands been met year later?
- East Palestine considering accepting wastewater
- Norfolk Southern joins safety hotline that protects workers
How the Ohio train derailment happened
Just before 9 p.m. local time on Feb. 3, 2023, an eastbound Norfolk Southern Railroad freight train derailed 38 railcars, 11 of which were hauling hazardous materials. The National Traffic Safety Board determined that the 11 tank cars ignited, fueling fires that damaged an additional 12 rail cars that did not derail.
Fearing an explosion, officials elected to vent and burn five tank cars that had derailed, releasing 116,000 gallons of the carcinogen vinyl chloride into the air.
A plume of black smoke instantly blanketed the region, forcing 2,000 East Palestine residents living within a 1-mile radius of the crash scene to be evacuated from their homes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Norfolk Southern stating that ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene were also in the rail cars that were derailed.
“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” Sig Caggiano, a hazardous materials specialist, said at the time.
Federal investigators determined that the train, traveling from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, crashed due to a mechanical issue with a rear car axle.
No injuries were reported to the crew, residents or first responders, but residents soon began reporting smelling chlorine or smoke as well as having headaches and experiencing a burning sensation in their eyes.
The East Palestine clean up
Since the derailment, Norfolk Southern spent more than $1 billion on the crash, financial disclosures show.
Cleanup crews have removed more than 176,000 tons of contaminated soil and the Environmental Protection Agency has collected more than 45,000 air, water and soil samples around East Palestine. None of those results have shown contaminants at concerning levels since the evacuation order was lifted, the Biden administration said.
Within three days of the crash, the EPA green-lighted residents returning to their homes despite red flags that suggested doing so was not safe. Longtime residents like Rick Tsai flagged safety issues such as a rainbow-colored sheen that developed on creek water in Leslie Run weeks after the crash.
Despite EPA reports insisting the water is safe, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said that a chemical spill had killed 3,500 small fish swimming in local streams. Six months after the crash, the EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to do additional cleanup in area creeks.
Federal officials admitted mistakes in an audio recording obtained by NewsNation that the agency waited too long to assess possible damage done to creek water. The recording also indicated that a federal official believed that some of the sickness being experienced by residents was likely due to early exposure to toxic chemicals.
Lingering health problems and concerns
In the year since the crash, some residents remain convinced East Palestine is not safe to call home.
The Unity Council for the EP Train Derailment was established by residents who developed a list of demands, including that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declare the region a Major Disaster area. They also asked for relocation dollars and other requests while saying repeatedly they felt ignored.
“We shouldn’t have to fight this hard to get the care and things that we need,” Columbiana resident Kim Rankin said.
In addition to reporting ongoing illness and rashes linked to the chemical burn, residents continue to criticize the government’s handling of the crash and allowing evaluated residents to return to their homes so quickly. They also accused officials of ignoring or downplaying their concerns that the damage done by the derailment had permanently changed their town for the worse.
Many insist not enough has been done for the town as local businesses have suffered while residents have decided to leave in search of a new beginning for somewhere they feel safe. And as Biden is set to make his first visit to East Palestine, residents remain vigilant that not enough has not been done to address their health concerns.
“Ultimately, what we need to understand is that there are still unmet needs here in terms of medical,” resident Jennifer Conard told NewsNation. “And the health of this community needs to come first.”
EPA ‘failed to protect’ residents: Whistleblower
An EPA whistleblower has stepped forward, saying the Environmental Protection Agency deviated from normal procedures when testing for chemical contamination after the train derailment.
Scientist Robert Kroutil spent four decades helping create the high-tech plane they used to detect chemical compounds in the air, called ASPECT. He’s blowing the whistle on the EPA’s use of the plane in the disaster.
“That deployment was the most unusual deployment I’ve ever seen,” Kroutil told NewsNation. “You just wouldn’t do it that way.”
He said the EPA’s protocol is to have the plane in the air within hours of a chemical disaster. He added that, in all his missions, he has never seen a response like the one in East Palestine.
Kroutil said the plane should have been there immediately, flying and gathering data for days; however, there was a five-day delay in deploying it and he had no idea why.
But that’s not what happened, a deviation from the usual disaster response. The plane should have been collecting data while the toxic plume was in the air, Kroutil said.