Regulators monitoring air, water after East Palestine train derailment

Environmental regulators are monitoring air and water quality near East Palestine, Ohio, days after several freight cars carrying hazardous materials derailed near Beaver County on the Pennsylvania state line.

About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine Friday night as a Norfolk Southern train was traveling from Illinois to Beaver County’s Conway Yard. Purple and black smoke from the fiery weekend wreckage could be seen billowing southeast into Darlington and Chippewa townships. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders have been reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board said 10 of the cars that derailed carried hazardous, combustible materials including butyl acrylate and benzene residue from previous shipments, as well as “non-hazardous” materials such as plastic pellets, malt liquor and lube oil.

More:East Palestine train derailment causes small number of evacuations in Beaver County

At least five of the cars carried vinyl chloride, and one is “intermittently releasing” its contents via a pressure release device operating as designed, said East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency crews are working to remove contaminants from nearby streams.

Residents within 1 mile of the site, including those living in parts of Darlington Township, are under evacuation orders Monday amid a heightened risk of "catastrophic tanker failure” that could “cause an explosion with the potential of deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said. The dedicated evacuation shelter is located at East Palestine Junior and Senior High School.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro strongly urged the two dozen Pennsylvania residents living within the evacuation radius to leave immediately. Norfolk Southern is planning a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride at approximately 3:30 p.m. Monday to reduce the chance of an explosion. At this time, Shapiro said he and state environmental regulators do not have evidence of water or air contaminants negatively affecting Pennsylvanians.

"If you are within this evacuation zone, please evacuate immediately," Shapiro said. "Anyone in this area is in danger."

Vinyl chloride is a manmade, colorless gas that burns easily. It’s primarily used to make PVC, a plastic resin found in products like pipes, car parts, housewares, wire coatings and packaging materials.

Long-term exposure to vinyl chloride through inhalation is associated with an increased risk of liver, brain and lung cancers, as well as lymphoma and leukemia, according to the National Cancer Institute. Breathing high levels of vinyl chloride can be deadly. Short-term symptoms of vinyl chloride exposure include fatigue, dizziness, exhaustion, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal bleeding, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At this time, “there is no indication that any potential exposure that occurred after the derailment increases the risk of cancer or any other long-term health effects in community members,” East Palestine officials said.

The derailment raises “serious health and safety concerns for all regional residents” who currently live in close proximity to train traffic carrying toxic materials, activists with Rail Protection Pittsburgh and the Breathe Project said.

If a similar derailment happened along the Norfolk Southern tracks running through Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood, more than 34,000 people within a one-mile radius would be at risk, the groups said. Members called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to expand air monitoring downwind of the one-mile evacuation area further into Beaver County.

More:Officials urge evacuation near Ohio derailment, fearing explosion

“The exact identities of the hazardous chemicals released into the air from the explosion and fire should have been known and disclosed immediately to residents, first responders and local government officials responsible for protecting the public in an emergency," said Dr. Ned Ketyer, president of Pennsylvania Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Preliminary findings indicate the accident was caused by mechanical issues with one of the rail car's axles, said National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham, but the final cause is still under investigation.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Regulators monitoring air, water after East Palestine train derailment