‘We Basically Nuked A Town With Chemicals’: Critics Blast Detonation From Train Derailment

After the a “team of experts” It was decided to release chemicals from derailment train cars near East Palestine in Ohio and ignite them. The explosion caused a large explosion. Critics expressed their disapproval that officials were allowing people to return home.

A total of 50 cars on a Norfolk Southern Corp. train were thrown off-track, setting off a fire. The train had departed Madison, Illinois, and was headed to Conway, Pennsylvania. The train carried 14 cars containing 25,000 to 33,000 gallons each of vinyl chloride.

According to the National Cancer Institute vinyl chloride exposure is associated with an increased risk of a rare form of liver cancer (hepatic angiosarcoma), as well as “primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), brain and lung cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia.”

“A team of experts” The chemicals were ignited by the ignition of the sparks on February 5. “prevent a potentially catastrophic explosion following a train derailment,” The Wall Street Journal reported On February 6,

No protests. No Greta. No Biden. No AOC. No Al Gore.

Where are the so-called environmentalists for East Palestine, you ask?pic.twitter.com/7yedUI4EyJ

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 14, 2023

The CDC notes, “Vinyl chloride self-polymerizes explosively if peroxidation occurs (e.g., if heated, exposed to sunlight, or mixed with air and contaminants).”

On February 7, the Journal reported that a mandatory evacuation in East Palestine had been implemented. On February 8, officials said that residents of East Palestine could return home.

The Environmental Protection Agency later informed Norfolk Southern that ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene were also in the rail cars.

“We basically nuked the town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” Sil Caggiano, a hazardous materials specialist, told WKBN. “I was kind of surprised when they quickly told the people they could go back home, but then said if they wanted their homes tested, they could have them tested. I would’ve far rather they did all the testing.”

“There’s a lot of what-ifs, and we’re gonna be looking at this thing 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the line and wondering, ‘Gee, cancer clusters could pop up, well water could go bad,’” he added.

Three new dangerous chemicals were found on the train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio:

“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open… I was surprised when they quickly told the people they could go back home.”pic.twitter.com/knBBhR07Q5

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 13, 2023

“The biggest question remaining is what, if anything, is still being released from the site, first and foremost,” Peter DeCarlo, an environmental health professor at Johns Hopkins University, told The Washington Post. “If there are still residual chemical emissions, then that still presents a danger for people in the area.”

Caggiano recommended residents get a health check-up so they would have a record to compare with their health years from now.

Local resident Eric Whitining told the Post, “For a small town, we have to trust them, because what else do we have to do? We have to trust that they are not lying to us.”