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Workers become sick while cleaning up Ohio derailment

China Daily | Updated: 2024-08-16 00:00
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OHIO — The creeks around East Palestine, Ohio, were so badly contaminated by last year's disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment that some workers became sick during the cleanup.

Workers who reported headaches and nausea — while shooting compressed air into the creek bed, which releases chemicals from the sediment and water — were sent back to their hotels to rest, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press about their illnesses.

The findings were not released to the public last spring, despite residents' concerns about the potential health effects of exposure to the long list of chemicals that spilled and burned after the disaster. The workers' symptoms, as described in the report, are consistent with what Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers going door to door in town had reported shortly after the Feb 3, 2023, derailment.

Since then some residents have also reported unexplained rashes, asthma and other respiratory problems, as well as serious diseases including male breast cancer.

In the meantime, residents have until Aug 22 to decide whether to accept up to $25,000 — as part of a $600 million class action settlement with the railroad to compensate them for any future health problems. Accepting that money, though, means giving up the right to sue later, when the cost of healthcare coverage and specific treatments needed will become more clear.

Independent toxicologist George Thompson, who has been following the aftermath of the Ohio wreck, said the cleanup contractors, overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, should have known the work they were doing would release chemicals from the sediment into the air and water. In fact, that is what the Center for Toxicology &Environmental Health, or CTEH, was monitoring while the project was underway. And with one of the main streams, Sulphur Run, going directly through town and in culverts under homes and offices, Thompson said those chemicals could have infiltrated buildings.

The report from CTEH was submitted to Unified Command, the group overseeing disaster response — which included federal, state and local officials along with Norfolk Southern — but no one released it despite significant public interest. CTEH's principal toxicologist Paul Nony confirmed the report was given to the command center, and officials there were alerted about the illnesses.

East Palestine resident Misti Allison said not enough is being done to monitor long-term health effects on the community, and this report substantiates their health concerns. She said this report should have never been kept from the public.

Agencies Via Xinhua

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