EPA Administrator to Return to Ohio’s Toxic Train Crash Site on Feb. 21

Ohio senators raise concerns about dioxins from vinyl chloride burnoff

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan left, walks with his staff through East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2023. Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment are demanding to know if they're safe from the toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off to avoid an even bigger disaster. Lucy Schaly/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

Less than a week after visiting East Palestine, where he told reporters that “we’re trusting the science” and that he would let his children drink the water there if testing showed it was safe, EPA administrator Michael S. Regan is returning to the eastern Ohio village that continues to recover from the aftermath of a train derailment that sent toxic chemicals into the air and onto the ground.

In a press conference scheduled for Feb. 21 at 12:30 p.m., Regan will provide an update on the agency’s efforts to address Norfolk Southern Railway’s train derailment and chemical spill that happened on Feb. 3, and the subsequent controlled release of vinyl chloride on Feb. 6.

Regan is also expected to announce additional health and safety measures for East Palestine and surrounding communities impacted by the disaster, and plans to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, Ohio Republican Rep. Bill Johnson, and EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore will join Regan at the briefing.

Ohio EPA officials, including director Anne Vogel (left) took a tour of the damage in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2023. Residents of the Ohio village upended by a freight train derailment are demanding to know if they're safe from the toxic chemicals that spilled or were burned off to avoid an even bigger disaster. Lucy Schaly/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

While meeting with officials and talking to residents in East Palestine on Feb. 16, Regan said that the air and water are safe, and that “robust” air quality testing and around-the-clock monitoring have indicated there are no problems.

A reporter asked Regan if he would feel comfortable living in East Palestine. Regan responded again by saying he would if testing showed his home was safe.

“As a father, I trust the science, I trust the methodology that the state is using,” Regan said.

“I would encourage every family in this community to reach out to the state or EPA to get their home air quality tested and their water tested,” Regan added. “We have the resources to do it, we want to do it, and we want people to feel secure and safe in their homes.”

Dead Fish, Dead Worms

On the same day that Regan toured East Palestine, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) released a video showing him standing at Leslie Run Creek in East Palestine.

Vance took a stick and scraped the bottom of the shallow creek, bringing rainbow-colored substances to the surface.

“There are dead worms and dead fish all throughout this water” and “chemicals coming out of the ground,” Vance said. “This is disgusting. And the fact that we have not cleaned up the train crash, the fact that these chemicals are still seeping into the ground, is an insult to the people who live in East Palestine.”

Vance challenged Regan to drink the municipal water in East Palestine.

“I don’t suspect he will,” Vance said in a TV interview. “A lot of residents are not comfortable drinking the tap water either.”

Last weekend, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw arrived in East Palestine and said, “I am here to support the community” and “we know we will be judged by our actions, and we are taking this accountability and responsibility very seriously.”

Shaw released an open letter to East Palestine residents on Feb. 16 and said the company’s Family Assistance Center “is helping community members meet immediate needs.”

He added that “we have implemented a comprehensive testing program to ensure the safety of East Palestine’s water, air, and soil. And we have established a $1 million community support fund as a down payment on our commitment to help rebuild.”

“We will not walk away, East Palestine,” Shaw wrote.

“I know there are still a lot of questions without answers. I know you’re tired. I know you’re worried. We will not let you down,” he added.

Norfolk Southern debuted NSMakingItRight.com over the weekend. The website is designed as an information source for East Palestine residents and offers updates on clean-up work, Family Assistance Center services, and a link to U.S. EPA updates on the derailment recovery among other resources.

Clean up continues in the aftermath of the Norfolk Southern Railroad train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times

On Feb. 19, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who has received criticism for what many legislators have called a slow reaction to the Feb. 3 derailment, sent an open letter to Shaw.

“Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole—and must also live up to its obligation to do whatever it takes to stop putting communities such as East Palestine at risk,” Buttigieg wrote.

“This is the right time for Norfolk Southern to take a leadership position within the rail industry, shifting to a posture that focuses on supporting, not thwarting, efforts to raise the standard of U.S. rail safety regulation,” he added.

Norfolk Southern has reported that about 15,000 tons of contaminated soil and more than 1.5 million gallons of contaminated water have been excavated from the crash site. The company said the material has been transported to landfills and disposal facilities designed to accept contaminated material “in accordance with state and federal regulations.”

Concern About Dioxins

Over the weekend, while Shaw was touring East Palestine and Buttigieg was warning Norfolk Southern, Vance and Democrat Sherrod Brown, who is Ohio’s other senator, authored a letter to the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA asking for more information about the potential spread of a cancer-causing compound in East Palestine.

Vance and Brown sent the letter to Regan and Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel, warning that the combustion of vinyl chloride can result in the formation of highly toxic dioxins.

Vinyl chloride is a toxic chemical that was released and burned on Feb. 6 to avoid an explosion.

“We are concerned that the burning of large volumes of vinyl chloride may have resulted in the formation of dioxins that may have been dispersed throughout the East Palestine community and potentially a much large area,” the senators wrote.

Dioxins can interfere with hormones and can cause cancer, and reproductive and developmental problems, according to EPA information, Vance and Brown noted in their letter.

Dioxins may also damage an exposed individual’s immune system.

Vance and Brown inquired about whether the agencies were testing for dioxins, and asked for more details regarding protocols for managing mass dioxin exposure.

“Following our visits to East Palestine this past week where we heard directly from members of the community, we remain concerned that it does not appear that the U.S. EPA, OEPA, or Norfolk Southern is texting for dioxins,” Vance and Brown wrote.

Since the derailment occurred, many East Palestine citizens have said they are experiencing headaches, vomiting, skin rashes, and blood in the stool among other ailments.

To treat patients with symptoms from the derailment, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) will open a clinic in East Palestine on Feb. 21.

Representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services and Columbiana County Health Department will assist the ODH.

“Any East Palestine area residents who have medical questions or concerns related to the recent train derailment” can access the clinic, according to the statement from the ODH.

“Registered nurses and mental health specialists will be on hand. A toxicologist will either be on-site or available by phone,” the statement explained, adding that the clinic will be at the First Church of Christ in East Palestine.

“In addition to two assessment rooms inside, a mobile unit operated by the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County will be parked outside the church in order to accommodate more appointments,” according to the statement.