Health officials: No air quality concerns after East Palestine train derailment
Canton City Public Health hasn't seen a problem with air quality around Stark County since a major train derailment Friday in East Palestine and a controlled release of toxic chemicals on Monday, officials said.
"We have not seen anything in our regular monitoring," Canton Health Commissioner Jim Adams said Tuesday morning.
The health agency works with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. EPA to monitor ambient air quality to ensure compliance with the federal clean air standards in the county. It monitors particulate matter, ozone in the summer months, volatile organic compounds and lead, Adams said.
They have not seen any changes in the particulate matter, he said, as a result of the fire and controlled release of toxic chemicals inside the derailed cars.
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About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash Friday night, according to rail operator Norfolk Southern and the National Transportation Safety Board. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.
Five car were transporting vinyl chloride, which is used to make the polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin in plastic products and is associated with increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute.
Residents in a one-mile by two-mile radius — in both Ohio and Pennsylvania — near the derailment site were evacuated over concerns of another potential explosion. State officials said the chemicals in the rail cars were “unstable and could potentially explode, causing deadly disbursement of shrapnel and toxic fumes.”
During the controlled release Monday afternoon, the contents of the rail cars were manually vented and drained after some of the cars' pressure-relief devices stopped working.
A large fire and plume of black smoke and fire could be seen throughout the area as some of the material burned off as it drained. Pits and other containers were set up to catch materials.
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Officials had warned the controlled burn would send phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the air. Phosgene is a highly toxic gas that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble and was used as a weapon in World War I.
But officials have said the town's air quality monitors showed no levels of concern.
A spokesperson for the Joint Information Center — set up by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency to answer questions — said the EPA continues to monitor air quality and officials have been pleased with the results.
Air quality varies from area to area, the spokesperson said, but everything has been below a level requiring action.
But the evacuation order remains in place and residents should continue to monitor the situation and listen to local officials for advice and advisories, the spokesperson said.
Adams also has been watching the reports from the U.S. EPA, which has been monitoring the air quality near the derailment.
"It's very promising," Adams said. "The modeling they did before the burning and their modeling right now, they didn't have any concerns."
He noted that reports that some residents have smelled chlorine, bleach and other chemicals inside their homes have been investigated and nothing has been found.
Carroll County Health Commissioner Kelly Morris also has been keeping a close eye on the EPA reports.
"We don't see that there is a risk at this time," she said, adding they offered to help the Columbiana County Health Department.
Federal investigators say the cause of the derailment was a mechanical issue with a rail car axle.
The three-member train crew received an alert about the mechanical defect “shortly before the derailment,” Michael Graham, a board member of the NTSB, said Sunday. Investigators identified the exact “point of derailment,” but the board was still working to determine which rail car experienced the axle issue, he said.
Includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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This article originally appeared on The Independent: Health officials monitoring air quality after Ohio train derailment
