From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):
About two weeks ago, a chemical train derailed in eastern Ohio, spilling hazardous chemicals that caught on fire, endangering the surrounding community.
1,500 people were evacuated for their safety. Officials have given the all clear for the residents to return to their homes, but it’s still uncertain whether or not the air and water are safe.1
Chemical trains carrying dangerous materials crisscross through our communities with few safety regulations — threatening the environment and our health. We’re calling on the Biden administration to protect us from dangerous chemical trains and ensure we have the right to know what toxic materials are on board.
Go to https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=53554 to tell the Biden administration: Keep us safe from hazardous chemical trains.
Communities should have the right to know what dangerous chemicals are on these trains. For the town of East Palestine, Ohio and other communities across the border in Pennsylvania, people are still trying to figure out what precautions they need to take to protect themselves.
Families are wondering if their water is safe to drink and if the air will make them sick.
The train company wasn’t required to notify government officials about the toxic contents of the train and the potential risk to hundreds of families. The train wasn’t considered hazardous because only some of the train cars were carrying toxic substances.2 And when the 20 chemical-filled cars derailed and caught on fire, no one knew what dangerous chemicals were inside.
This oversight left the surrounding community and the first responders in the dark about what chemicals were spilled and the risks to public health. This is unacceptable.
We now know that the train was carrying vinyl chloride, which is primarily used to make plastic and has been linked to cancer. Many of the other hazardous chemicals that spilled can cause breathing problems, dizziness, and eye and skin irritation.3
Trains shipping toxic and hazardous substances across the country pose a serious threat to public health and the environment.
We should be using less of these toxic chemicals in the first place and lessen the danger from chemical trains rolling by our communities. But as long as companies are sending toxic chemicals from one factory to another, we should at the very least have more safety requirements to help deal with the potential fallout.
Send a message to the Biden administration: Toxic chemical trains are a threat to our health.
- Christine Hauser, “After the Ohio Train Derailment: Evacuations, Toxic Chemicals and Water Worries,” The New York Times, February 15, 2023.
- Caroline MacGregor, “W.Va. Officials Monitor Ohio River Water Supply,” WV Public Broadcasting, February 14, 2023.
- Raymond Zhong, “What Toxic Chemicals Were Aboard the Derailed Train in Ohio?,” The New York Times, February 15, 2023.
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