EPA Toxic Cover Up Exposed? East Palestine Plagued With Carcinogenic Soil After Norfolk Train Derails - Report

istockphoto.com - BartCo and istockphoto.com - chaoss

On February 3, 2023, late in the evening, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed and crashed in East Palestine, Ohio. Over three dozen freight carts derailed, and many were loaded with toxic material, including vinyl chloride, ethylene glycol, ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, and isobutylene. The controversial decision was made to engage in a controlled burn with some of the chemicals, which is allegedly partially to blame for the topic of today’s story.

Is East Palestine’s environment truly free of toxins after the spill and subsequent burning? The EPA has assured residents that “soil sampling results are within typical ranges for the area” and that there is absolutely no threat to public health. Whistleblower Scott Smith isn’t a scientist but has raised concerns about these claims according to his own tests. Apparently, the truth lies in the garlic. 

“These false assurances in the aftermath of what some toxicologists have dubbed the worst environmental disaster in five decades could result in dangerous health consequences for residents who heed the EPA’s advice. Even worse, the EPA’s green light to garden remains even after Scott Smith’s independent dioxin data shows skyrocketing dioxin levels in East Palestine garlic. With the spring and summer planting seasons already underway, the EPA has a duty to reverse its prior stance on garden crops as well as wild game consumption until more extensive relevant independent testing is conducted,” as stated by Lesley Pacey, Government Accountability Project Senior Environmental Officer.

Scott Smith is the inventor of an open-cell foam application that may be used to help clean up toxic spills. While this does bring financial incentive to this debate, Smith seems to have a passion for this topic due to his own experiences; you can learn all about it in this YouTube video. 

It is being alleged that the EPA and Norfolk Southern higher-ups are engaging in gross negligence or a deliberate cover-up of the true extent of the toxicity of the spill. The Government Accountability Project alleges that unsafe levels of dioxins are still present in East Palestine's environment, and may pose a health risk to residents of the small town. Dioxins are a highly toxic and carcinogenic organic pollutant that can cause everything from liver cancer to extreme changes in neurological function. This could line up with the GAP’s claims, stating, "residents of East Palestine continue to suffer from nearly 100 new symptoms since the derailment including seizures, bleeding, rashes, memory loss and more.“ 

Dioxins are known for their persistence and ability to stick around in an environment for extended periods of time. How long, you might ask? According to the NCBI, “the half-life of dioxins in the soil is from 60 to 80 years, and at the same time, it persists for a long time in the environment, seeps into the soil and sediments, and migrates into vegetation and aquatic life, leading to bioaccumulation in the soil and food chain.” To put it simply, it can contaminate an environment for centuries. In fact, back in 1983, the entire town of Times Beach, Missouri, was evacuated due to dioxin contamination, and remains abandoned to this day. Is the EPA trying to downplay round two of one of the worst ecological disasters in American history? 

Sources:

https://twitter.com/waterwarriorone - Scott Smith

Sydney.Johnson. (2024, April 3). FOIA discovery shows EPA’s missteps put East Palestine in harm’s way. Government Accountability Project. https://whistleblower.org/press-release/foia-discovery-shows-epas-missteps-put-east-palestine-in-harms-way/ 

EPA. East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment. https://www.epa.gov/east-palestine-oh-train-derailment 

Funk, J. (2024, June 13). Toxic garlic should have prompted EPA to warn against gardening near Ohio derailment, Watchdog says. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/east-palestine-derailment-epa-gardening-norfolk-southern-ce99e551fd5da0f2cafadf191bdc992b

EPA. United States Reaches Over $310 Million Settlement with Norfolk Southern to Address Harms Caused by East Palestine Train Derailment. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/united-states-reaches-over-310-million-settlement-norfolk-southern-address-harms#:~:text=In%20February%202023%2C%20EPA%20issued,costs%20to%20the%20U.S.%20government.  

EPA. Can I grow a garden at home and eat the produce? https://www.epa.gov/east-palestine-oh-train-derailment/can-i-grow-garden-home-and-eat-produce 

Middendorp, S., Steven Middendorp

Steven Middendorp is an investigative journalist, & Steven Middendorp is an investigative journalist. (n.d.). Norfolk Southern accused of covering up health concerns by independent contaminant evaluator and East Palestine Citizens. The HighWire. https://thehighwire.com/news/norfolk-southern-accused-of-covering-up-health-concerns-by-independent-contaminant-evaluator-and-east-palestine-citizens/ 

Environmental Protection Agency. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/mo/town-flood-and-superfund-looking-back-times-beach-disaster-nearly-40-years-later 

Nhung, N. T. H., Nguyen, X.-T. T., Long, V. D., Wei, Y., & Fujita, T. (2022, May 24). A review of soil contaminated with dioxins and biodegradation technologies: Current status and future prospects. Toxics. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9227754/#:~:text=The%20half%2Dlife%20of%20dioxins,2%2C9%2C44%5D. 

NTSB. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/RRD23MR005 East Palestine OH Prelim.pdf