Two Norfolk Trains Derail in the Midwest, Raising Safety Concerns

YEPT Director Veda Thangudu is a junior and the features editor at Fishers High School’s Tiger Times.

Around 9 p.m. on Feb. 3, 50 train cars derailed due to a broken axle in East Palestine, a village with a population of around 4,700 in Ohio. Run by the Norfolk Southern railway company, the train carried flammables that ignited a fire which resulted in a layer of thick black smoke covering the area. Due to the possibility of an explosion, governor Mike DeWine ordered residents on both sides of the Ohio-Pennsylvania border to evacuate. This resulted in more than 1000 people evacuating.

“We are ordering you to leave,” DeWine said on Feb. 6 at a news conference. “This is a matter of life and death.”

Photo courtesy of National Transportation Safety Board

In the fear of an explosion, the officials held a controlled release from five train cars, on Feb. 6. Those five cars contained vinyl chloride, a clear gas used to make plastic and can have many negative impacts when inhaled by humans. One of the major impacts it can have on humans is increased risk of different types of cancers. According to Norfolk Southern, the process of controlled release involves burning of the rail cars' chemicals, releasing fumes into the air that can be deadly if inhaled. Two major gasses the release put into the atmosphere are hydrogen chloride and phosgene, a chemical used in World War I’s weapons. 

“We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open,” Sil Caggiano, a local hazardous materials specialist, told local outlet WKBN-TV.

After research, on Feb. 10, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that about 20 train cars were reported to be carrying hazardous material.

“Chemicals including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether are known to have been and continue to be released to the air, surface soils, and surface waters,” a letter from EPA to Norfolk Southern said.

Ethylhexyl acrylate is a very harmful and persistent substance, meaning it stays in the environment for long periods of time once it is out.

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Norfolk Southern, as a potentially responsible party (PRP) will have to reimburse the costs put in by EPA for the investigation of the site.

Furthermore, the EPA is continuing to monitor air through screening. On Feb. 12, the EPA stated that contaminants were not at levels of concern in East Palestine, although it left an odor behind.

There were also precautions taken on a wider scale. West Virginia subsidiary, supplies water to 24 states, reported that there were not any changes at its Ohio River site.

As of Feb. 13, along with Columbiana County Emergency and Norfolk Southern, EPA screened 291 homes and did not detect any hydrogen chloride or vinyl chloride. The report states that there are 181 homes left for screening. Norfolk Southern contractors also installed a dam to stop water contamination in the area.

As some of many immediate effects of the derailment, East Palestine roads and schools were closed for a week. Later on Feb. 6, DeWine extended the evacuation affecting everyone in a one-mile by two-mile area surrounding East Palestine. This includes parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

On Feb. 8, DeWine announced that it is safe for evacuees to return to their homes, after air samples measured safe and low contamination levels. East Palestine Water treatment plan also reported to have no adverse effects.

Although injuries or deaths were not recorded, questions have arisen among the public about how safe the area is. The EPA did not mention anything about how long it might take to consider the site back to normal. Both Norfolk Southern and the EPA have continuously been monitoring air and water quality. However, there have been numerous complaints from residents about headaches, nausea, burning eyes and pungent odor. People have also raised environmental concerns regarding the controlled release.

Many sources have noted effects on the environment, more than potential air and water contamination. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, as of Feb. 8, the incident killed about 3500 fish across seven and a half miles of streams. There have also been many complaints raised of animals dying. Additionally, a resident of North Lima, near East Palestine reported that on Feb. 7, her five hens and one rooster died suddenly. 

On Feb. 22, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw apologized to East Palestine’s residents. 

“I'm terribly sorry for what has happened to your community,” Shaw said during the CNN town hall. “I want you to know that Norfolk Southern is here, and we're going to stay here. And we're going to make this right.”

Not even two weeks post the derailment, another accident occurred. On Feb. 16, in the morning, another train run by Norfolk Southern derailed but this time in Van Buren Township, close to Detroit, Michigan. About 30 train cars have been derailed. There have not been any chemicals released into the water, soil or the atmosphere. No injuries or deaths were recorded, but for public safety, Haggerty road was closed.

The reason behind the derailment was not immediately clear, and no more information has been put out about it yet. According to the facebook post by the local public safety department, there were no hazardous materials aboard on the train. The post also states that one of the overturned cars contained agricultural grain, but the rest were empty. Further away from the derailed section was one car with liquid chlorine. Although, it was in the section that was removed first. 

“We couldn't believe how lucky we were, considering the awful situation over there in Ohio,” Police Chief Jason Wright stated to Detroit news. 

Norfolk Southern is cleaning the site with equipment.Currently as of Feb. 16, there are many organizations working on the situation, including Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michigan Department of Environment and Wayne County Homeland Security. 

“We are also in touch with the relevant federal authorities, including the EPA,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, said to Fox news.

One notable commonality is that both the derailments were connected to Norfolk Southern, and happened 13 days apart from each other in Indiana’s neighboring states, raising concerns within Indiana residents as well. According to Detroit news, experts state that the severity of both the crashes may be due to many factors, like the speed of the train and what kind of cargo it is carrying. However, it raises a question of how prepared Norfolk Southern is, and how safe transporting chemicals through railways is, to both: people and the environment.