The Ohio Train Derailment: Scientist Questions EPA’s Handling of East Palestine Cleanup: ‘They Should Have Tested Correctly’

                             

Main Article: https://www.alleghenyfront.org/east-palestine-epa-cleanup-criticism-science/

Scientific Article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176056

    On February 3rd, 2023, in East Palestine, Ohio, a Norfolk Southern train carrying 38 rail cars derailed, with 11 of the rail cars containing hazardous materials. The derailment was linked to the overheating of the wheel bearings on the leading car. Incidents like this are a common occurrence, which is why bearing detectors are installed along the tracks to alert the driver before a train derails. Unfortunately, the alarm did not activate until the train reached East Palestine, where the overheated bearing’s axle failed. The crew did not have enough time to slow the train to a stop before it derailed, resulting in the crash. The most alarming chemical on this train was vinyl chloride, a highly flammable and toxic gas.

    Officials were worried that pressure was building up in the tanks, which could then lead to a violent, uncontrolled explosion. To prevent this, a vent and burn was performed: A last resort tactic to mitigate hazardous materials in an uncontrolled environment by creating holes in the rail cars and igniting the released compounds.

    After the vent and burn, concerns arose about the chemicals released and about how agencies responded to the disaster, the latter of which was the focus of the article. It discusses how the EPA downplayed the hazards while others, such as Dr. Andrew Whelton, a Purdue University environmental engineer, expressed serious worries about how the situation was handled.

    The author stated that the EPA claimed early on that contamination was contained to the derailment site, but according to Whelton, this was not the case. Whelton mentioned that the creeks surrounding the railsite, both upstream and downstream, were also contaminated. This was due to the main tool the EPA relied on for air monitoring, a photoionization detector (PID), which is a handheld device that provides quick readings of chemical concentrations in the air. However, the device cannot detect all of the chemicals involved in the spill, such as butyl acrylate, which is known to irritate the eyes, skin, and respiratory system. Despite this limitation, evacuation orders in the town were lifted based on the PID’s limited readings.

    The author then speaks about Whelton’s experience with emergency situations like this and discusses what Whelton believes is the main issue with how these events are handled. He emphasized the importance of knowing all the components involved before allowing people to return to their homes. He made this characterization using a Proton-Transfer Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS), which can provide a detailed profile in a short amount of time.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176056

Figure 1. Schematic of the headspace sampling setup with the PTR-TOF-MS.

    The author then mentions the other method used to break up and release the chemicals into the waterways. Authorities aerated the contaminated water, releasing unknown vapors into the air without fully understanding what chemicals were present. Wheaton then emphasizes the importance of governmental agencies reaching out to external experts to help manage these situations, but this didn’t happen here.

    After interviewing the EPA response coordinator for East Palestine, he admitted they could have done better at addressing the situation. Though no fatalities were reported, the long-term health and environmental consequences remain uncertain, and the incident has become a cautionary example of the importance of comprehensive and transparent disaster response.

    The article did a great job at connecting the information from Whelton and describing it in a digestible format for non-scientist readers. Whelton was one of the authors on a paper by Jiang et al., which was done on this very site. The information left out of the research paper published on the matter was mainly the in-depth results they had collected.

    In the study, 20 water samples were collected from 16 different sites in East Palestine, starting from the deraliment site and reaching miles downstream, leading to the Ohio River. Hydrocarbons were the dominant chemical group in all of the water samples, accounting for 50 % to 97 % of the total VOCs found. Commonly detected compounds included benzene, xylene, and MTBE, with aqueous concentrations generally found at ng/L levels. Additionally, it was noted that the samples were taken 24 to 51 days post-train derailment, meaning the reported results may not accurately represent the water's composition immediately following the chemical spill, as both the vent and burn and the aerated water period had already concluded.

    I would rate the article an 8/10. The rating is high due to the fact that the author of the article actually interviewed one of the authors of the paper, so a lot of the information was well-construed, and the data was presented in a way that the average reader could understand. They also made a point that it is important for government officials to consult out-of-government scientists on what to do in situations such as this, and that the voices of the locals should be heard. Points were lost because they skipped over the fact that the samples taken by Whelton’s team were not directly recorded after the derailment, and that not all of the findings (such as the chemicals found) were reported.

Sources: 

Frazier, R. The Allegheny Front. Scientist questions EPA’s handling of East Palestine cleanup: ‘They should have tested correctly’. 2024.

Jiang, J.; Ding, X.; Coelho, P.; Wittbrod, G.; Whelton, A. J.; Boor, B. E.; Jung, N. Rapid Screening of Volatile Chemicals in Surface Water Samples from the East Palestine, Ohio Chemical Disaster Site with Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry. Science of The Total Environment 2024, 954, 176056. DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176056.