Ohio freight train derailment involved more hazardous chemicals than previously believed

Residents returning to their homes in East Palestine, Ohio, after the toxic-chemical-laden train derailment reported dead fish and chickens despite officials’ assurances that it was safe, as officials said an overheated wheel bearing may have been to blame.

“Surveillance video from a residence showed what appears to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment,” the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a statement Tuesday after examining the car. “The wheelset from the suspected railcar has been collected as evidence for metallurgical examination.”

Surveillance footage from businesses along the route showed one car glowing brightly on the bottom with a flaming axle about 20 miles from East Palestine, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Friday.

An hour later, 38 rail cars derailed “and a fire ensued,” damaging another 12 cars, the NTSB said. Eleven of those — not 10 as had originally been reported — contained hazardous materials. The agency also released a more comprehensive list of the chemicals on board, and revealed more hazardous chemicals aboard the 150-car train than initially thought.

Immediately after the Feb. 3 accident and chemical spill, health officials evacuated 1,500 to 2,000 residents within a square mile radius in the town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, expanding the order a few days later. They then conducted a controlled release and burn of five vinyl chloride tankers that encompassed the toxins phosgene and hydrogen chloride as well, sending opaque smoke billowing above the town.

Federal environmental officials said Monday evening that testing showed no concerning toxin levels in the air attributable to the crash since the controlled burn, ABC News reported.

About 3,500 small fish across 7.5 miles of streams died in the chemical spill resulting from the crash, officials from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said last week.

Residents reported coughing and other symptoms.

One woman who lives about 10 miles from the derailment told WKBN-TV that she’d smelled chlorine and her eyes watered when she went to let her dog out.

When she went to feed her chickens, all of them were dead.

“My video camera footage shows my chickens were perfectly fine before they started this burn, and as soon as they started the burn, my chickens slowed down and they died,” North Lima, Ohio, resident Amanda Breshears told WKBN. “If it can do this to chickens in one night, imagine what it’s going to do to us in 20 years.”

Transport company Norfolk Southern Railway said Tuesday it has established a $1 million fund for residents.

“We are committed to East Palestine today and in the future,” Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement. “We will be judged by our actions. We are cleaning up the site in an environmentally responsible way, reimbursing residents affected by the derailment, and working with members of the community to identify what is needed to help East Palestine recover and thrive.”

With News Wire Services