East Palestine derailment and aftermath NS 50-car derailment throws up concerns over hazardous cargoes

A NORFOLK Southern (NS) train that derailed on February 3 in Ohio, spilt vinyl chloride in the area and caused citizens to flee and wildlife to die. The derailment occurred at approximately 8:55 PM EST on February 3 2023 in East Palestine, OH. Norfolk Southern reported the incident at 10:53 PM ET to the National Response Centre. At that time, it was reported that an unknown number of the 150 train cars had derailed, but 20 of the cars were listed as carrying hazardous materials. Approximately 50 cars were affected by the derailment with the rest being uncoupled and removed from the scene. Local officials issued evacuation orders for the surrounding area. State health officials were initially concerned about the presence of vinyl chloride, a highly volatile colourless gas produced for commercial uses, which spilled after the derailment while travelling from Illinois to Pennsylvania. Other toxins, like phosgene and hydrogen chloride, were emitted in large plumes of smoke during a post-derailment controlled release and burn, prompting officials to issue mandatory evacuation orders in a one-mile (1.6 km) radius of the crash site.

Among the substances were ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene were also in the rail cars that were derailed. Contact with ethylhexyl acrylate, a carcinogen, can cause burning and irritation of the skin and eyes, and inhalation can irritate the nose and throat, causing shortness of breath and coughing, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Incident update

In an update, NS continued to work with local, state, and fed- eral leaders and the community affected by the derailment. Additionally, Norfolk Southern updated customers on the status of railroad operations. Both mainlines were restored to service on February 7 – after the Engineering team and contractors worked to quickly clear the site and laydown new infrastructure. NS continued to make progress in two key areas: addressing the backlog of traffic; and getting power and crews back in cycle

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been monitoring the health aspects of the incident continuously.

On the day after the derailment, EPA On-Scene Co-ordinators and contractors conducted fixed and roaming air monitoring and provided technical assistance to the East Palestine Fire Department and other responding agencies.

Measures were taken to sample and mitigate any possible impacts from runoff from the fire to the Sulphur Run and Leslie Run streams. US EPA deployed real-time air monitoring instruments in 12 locations surrounding the fire and in the neighbouring community. In addition, one air sample was collected in downtown East Palestine for laboratory analysis.

In addition to the fixed air monitoring stations, handheld monitors were used to monitor areas of significant odour. Butyl acrylate has a low odour threshold of 0.035 parts per million (ppm), which means people can smell it in the air even at very low levels. In comparison, current screening levels for used on the incident for any VOCs is 0.1 ppm.

US EPA took water samples at the streams and sent them to a laboratory for analysis.

Emergency response staff noticed impacted aquatic life and notified the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the US Department of Interior.