East Palestine, Ohio – Officials were working to prevent a major blast from the smoldering wreckage of an Ohio train derailment near the Pennsylvania state line as the governor activated the Ohio National Guard to help the village, from which many residents had to be evacuated.
The village of eastern Palestine said Monday morning that authorities would begin enforcing a previously strongly recommended evacuation zone within a mile (1.6 km) radius of the crash site.
officials had warned hundreds of residents who had refused to evacuate Sunday night and said a train car was at risk of a potential explosion that could hurl deadly shrapnel up to a mile.
They warned of “the potential for catastrophic failure of a tanker” after a “drastic change in temperature” was observed in that car, according to a statement from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office. It did not specify what was in that car or if it was among those that had transported hazardous materials.
The statement said the guard will support local and state authorities already on the ground in the village, which has closed roads, schools and businesses and even evacuated its police communications center, and promised in a Facebook post that emergency services would not be affected would.
About 50 cars derailed In a fiery accident Friday night as the train was hauling a variety of products from Madison, Illinois to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said. No injuries were reported to crew, local residents, or first responders.
Federal investigators say the cause was a mechanical problem with a railroad car axle. The three-person train crew received a warning about the mechanical failure “just before the derailment,” Michael Graham, a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said on Sunday. Graham said investigators had identified the exact “point of the derailment” but the board was still working to determine which car had the axle problem.
A preliminary investigation report is expected in the next month or so.
Officials from East Palestine said rescue workers were monitoring the blaze but keeping their distance and that clean-up efforts could not begin while cars were smoldering.
Mayor Trent Conaway, who declared a state of emergency in the village, said one person was arrested for bypassing barricades before crashing. He warned people to stay away, saying they risked arrest.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to be up there; You’re breathing toxic fumes when you’re that close,” he said, stressing that air quality monitors away from the fire showed no concern and the city’s water is safe as it is fed by groundwater fed by material that has gone is, unaffected is in torrents. Environmental Protection Agency officials worked to remove pollutants from rivers and monitor water quality.
Sheriffs went door-to-door on Sunday to count the remaining residents and urged people in the evacuation area to leave the area.
Norfolk Southern said 20 of the more than 100 cars on the train were classified as carrying hazardous materials – defined as cargo that could pose any type of hazard “including flammable, combustible material or environmental hazards”.
The NTSB said only 10 cars carrying hazardous materials derailed and five of them were transporting vinyl chloride, not 14 as previously said. Officials stressed late Saturday that they had not confirmed the release of vinyl chloride other than from pressure relief devices working as designed.
Vinyl chloride, used to make the hard plastic resin polyvinyl chloride in a variety of plastic products, is linked to an increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute.
“Short-term contact with low concentrations of substances in connection with the derailment does not pose a long-term health risk to the residents,” says a “Frequently Asked Questions” post on the village’s Facebook page. “Vinyl chloride and benzene can cause cancer in people exposed to high levels at work for many years; However, there is no evidence that potential exposure after the derailment increases the risk of cancer or other long-term health effects in community members.”
Officials said Sunday afternoon that the cars involved were also transporting flammable liquids, butyl acrylate and benzene residue from previous shipments, as well as non-hazardous materials such as wheat, plastic pellets, malt liquors and lubricating oil.
The evacuation order affected homes for 1,500 to 2,000 of the city’s 4,800 to 4,900 residents, but officials said it was not known exactly how many were actually affected. Most of those who had gone to an emergency shelter were no longer there on Sunday.
Norfolk Southern has opened a relief center in the village to collect information from affected residents.
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