East Palestine Train Derailment

Lena Cao (Lc206@uakron.edu)

ALOT has been happening in the past few weeks. On Friday, February 3, 2023, at 8:54 PM, a train carrying highly toxic chemicals from Madison, Illinois heading to Conway, Pennsylvania derailed. Three weeks later, there are still high concerns regarding the safety of residents living in East Palestine and toxic chemicals remaining in the local water source.

On February 3, 2023, a train operated by Norfolk Southern derailed a small village with about 4,700 residents. The train had been carrying several types of toxic and flammable chemicals; vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, and isobutylene, and 2 additional toxic chemicals. The chemical spill resulted in a large fire and residents of East Palestine within a 1-2 mile radius were ordered to evacuate after a concern about a possible explosion. On Monday, February 6, 3 days later the initial chemical spill, officials conducted a “controlled release” of the chemicals inside the railroad cars. Just 2 days after, the evacuation order was lifted and it was now safe to be in the evacuation area. Despite official claims, residents were still doubtful of the safety. After all, it’s only been 2 days and these toxic chemicals were released into the air, soil, and water. The main chemical of concern is vinyl chloride. High exposure to Vinyl chloride can increase a person’s risk of brain, liver, and lung cancers, but long-term exposure to low levels has its health consequences. Vinyl chloride can easily go through the soil and enter water sources.

Residents living in East Palestine have been saying they get constant headaches, nose bleeds, stomach cramps, and shortness of breath along with irritation of the throat and eyes. Amanda Great house on ccn.com stated that she went back home on the 10th to smell chemicals all throughout her home. She decided to leave after 30 minutes but developed a rash shortly after and burning eyes that lasted for several days. Another family on ccn.com stated that she returned her kids back to school but just a day later her oldest daughter had a rash on her face, and her 2-year-old started acting unusual and complained that her eye hurts. There have been multiple tests performed on the water and air quality and they all came back to non-concerning results, yet symptoms still continue. Tiktok may not be the most reliable source but I found out about this train derailment through TikTok. Since then I’ve personally seen many Tiktoks of people from up to a 40-mile radius of East Palestine showing that their tap water comes out to be brown and dirty and others have experienced fog and a film covering the top of their water. Norfolk Southern is being held to its responsibility of cleaning up the aftermath of the train derailment as well as paying for damages.