Why Did The Train Derailed in Ohio?

On February 3rd, a train carrying a number of products, including hazardous material derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The train was traveling from Madison, Illinois to Conway Pennsylvania, when a mechanical issued called the train to derail.

A rail car axle issue, caused the train with 50 train cars to derail into a fiery wreck. The rail car axle refers to the metal rod that connect the wheels on each side of the train and keep them moving together. Ten of the cars contained hazardous material, which caused an explosion and began to release toxic chemicals into the surrounding air.

Ohio River Contamination 2023

Is Ohio River contaminated? Five of the train cars contained Vinyl Chloride, which was burned in order to prevent a bigger explosion. Residents were evacuated but have since been allowed to return home last week but to their concern. Residents who came home last week reported that there were strange smells lingering in the air and that their were dead animals around their properties.

However, The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the air and water around the site of the crash are safe. Officials from Greater Cincinnati Water Works who supply the water in the small town of 5,000, said that the faucet water is safe to drink.

Jeff Swertfeger, the superintendent of water quality and treatment for Water Works said, “These are extremely low levels we’re talking about here..We don’t expect any impact on the quality of our drinking water.”

90% of the water in the area the Water Works supplies to the residents, comes from the Ohio River. While they said that contaminants from the crash were about 130-150 miles upstream of Cincinnati, they are monitoring the water closely.