Environmental Nightmare: Train Disaster Chemicals Found from Wisconsin to South Carolina!

A newly released study has revealed that the chemicals leaked during the East Palestine train disaster last year have spread much further than initially anticipated, reaching 16 states and raising health concerns for the surrounding communities. The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that pollution from burning vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, extended across 540,000 square miles from Wisconsin to Maine and South Carolina. The authors emphasize that this proves the fire's impacts were larger in scale and scope than initially predicted, as it was originally expected to be a local contamination issue.

The incident involved a Norfolk Southern train crash in East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border and the Appalachian foothills. Numerous train cars derailed, many carrying hazardous materials that caught fire and burned for several days. Authorities, fearing a significant explosion, drained vinyl chloride from five train cars into a trench and set it on fire in a controlled burn to minimize the impact. However, it was later revealed that the controlled burn violated EPA rules, and the head of the National Transportation Safety Board admitted that the burning had not been necessary.

Researchers collected inorganic compound samples from rain and snow across various U.S. locations for the study. David Gay, the study's lead author and National Atmospheric Deposition Program Coordinator, noted that while the chemicals are not causing issues like "melting steel or eating paint off buildings," it remains a "very extreme" problem. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program regularly tests precipitation across 250 U.S. sites to monitor atmospheric pollution, and these numbers far exceed those recorded in many locations over the past 12 years.

Experts not involved in the study agree it is a cause for concern. A vinyl chloride effects expert expressed worries to the Washington Post about the potential long-term environmental impact on communities within range of the chemical, affecting a third of the U.S. population, or 110 million people. "We have chemical and meteorological observations that these pollutants came from the train accident. I don’t think most people understand how big it was," Gay added.

Following the accident last February, area residents were evacuated and allowed to return home about a week later, with multiple reports of odors and illnesses. Residents reported a "potent chemical odor" lingering for weeks, causing headaches, rashes, and nausea. Initially, researchers expected to find pollution in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Western New York. However, a low-pressure system pushed the pollution across parts of Wisconsin and Michigan, likely affecting all the Great Lakes except Lake Superior, and reaching as far south as South Carolina and Virginia.

Unsurprisingly, some of the highest levels detected were downwind from the accident near the New York-Canada border. However, there were also "exceptionally high" pH levels in the rain in more distant areas, such as northern Maine. Moreover, the study did not test for organic compounds like PFAS or dioxin, widely believed to have spread in the accident, indicating the damage could be even more significant than reported.

"This accident wasn’t just in Ohio. It touched a lot of people," Gay said.