East Palestine
Toxic spill is public health catastrophe: Following the 3 February derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio, fears about the disaster’s effects on people’s health and the environment are growing, say Raymond Zhong and Catrin Einhorn in The New York Times. Resulting fires – some of which were deliberately set by the authorities – released a mushroom cloud of carcinogenic smoke over the town of East Palestine. Chemicals including vinyl chloride, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene have been released into soil and surface water as well.
The Environmental Protection Agency said that harmful gases have not been detected in any homes and evacuated residents have been allowed to return home. Nevertheless, there have been reports of symptoms such as headaches and sore throats, and pets, farmyard animals and fish are dying in their thousands, says Steven Donziger in The Guardian. So far officials have been “opaque” about their investigation. They often work alongside polluters to “manage” the political fallout and limit legal liability.
