The Environmental Protection Agency provided a report on its efforts to lessen chemical spillover from a catastrophic train crash in Ohio on Tuesday. They emphasized the need of conserving and restoring local ecological health in East Palestine as a necessary first step for this community’s revival.
“There is a plume [of chemicals] moving down the Ohio River,” stated Tiffani Kavalec, director of the water management section of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. “It’s near Huntington, West Virginia, right now.”
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According to Kavalec, the plume is mostly made up of “fire combustion compounds.” Several “volatile organic compounds” may possibly have been transported by the train in the Ohio River, but they are “very diluted,” she noted.
Concern has spread hundreds of miles after WLWT reported on Monday that harmful substances had been found in the Ohio River, a vital waterway for more than 5 million people and six states. Communities that are distant from its banks are thus monitoring the quality of their drinking water source more carefully.
The events on Wednesday raise questions about earlier predictions and point to a change in the circumstances.
“No contaminants were found in the Ohio River after Greater Cincinnati Water Works tested it for multiple hazardous chemicals,” WXIX reported.
“According to the Water Quality of Richard Miller Treatment Plant Intake data, all four chemicals were not detected in the Ohio River, including butyl acrylate and vinyl chloride,” the report added.
Tragically, 50 train cars carrying hazardous chemicals toppled off the lines on February 3rd, striking Norfolk Southern. New drone video obtained by Rebel News gives a beautiful perspective of this sad tragedy.
Emergency response personnel successfully eliminated the threatening presence of vinyl chloride by using a technique known as a “controlled burn,” which is known as a carcinogen owing to its low boiling point.
Following Norfolk Southern’s train disaster, the EPA has discovered a concerning number of dangerous compounds that were spilled into the air and water, posing a grave environmental risk.
“Cars containing vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether are known to have been and continue to be released to the air, surface soils, and surface waters,” the letter said.
In addition to water quality problems, there is also the issue of air quality dangers. According to the New Jersey EPA, vinyl chloride “is a CARCINOGEN in humans. There may be no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen, so all contact should be reduced to the lowest possible level.”
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been analyzing the air quality after the train disaster and checking for vinyl chloride levels. One part per million (ppm) during an eight-hour shift or no more than five ppm for “during any 15-minute work period” is “the legal airborne permissible exposure limit” imposed by OSHA.
The EPA recently carried out a number of tests to track the area’s air quality levels. Results indicated good readings in all three sites, with no concentrations reaching the threshold level of 0.5 ppm specified by the agency on 13 February and two lower amounts reported at 0.05 and0.2ppm during testing between 10-11 Febraury respectively. The fact that dangerous airborne contaminants won’t harm the inhabitants’ environment is definitely good news for them.
The EPA claims in its most recent dispatch that “as of February 14, EPA has assisted with the screening of 396 homes under a voluntary screening program offered to residents, and no detections of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride were identified. 65 additional homes are scheduled for today. We are continuing to conduct 24/7 air-monitoring to ensure the health and safety of residents.”
