The recent burning of toxic chemicals at the site of a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, has left concerned residents seeking answers about potential health effects on their families as well as pets, livestock and wildlife in the area.
As residents seek details about the environmental impact, false and misleading information online has stepped into the void. For example, social media posts sharing photos and videos of dead birds in states beyond Ohio are spreading with false claims that the deaths are related to the chemical release. The posts have amassed thousands of shares this week even though they are unrelated.
Here’s a closer look at the facts.
CLAIM: Photo shows birds that “dropped dead” in Kentucky following the Ohio derailment.
THE FACTS: This is false. The photo, which shows several birds lying dead on a road, was taken in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2018.
A Facebook user shared the photo, falsely claiming the incident was related to the toll left by the Ohio train derailment and the toxic chemicals that were intentionally burned.
“Maybe we should be concerned with what’s going on In Ohio,” the user’s post reads. “These birds dropped de@d in Ky.”
A reverse image search shows that the photo was featured in an article published by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a statewide newspaper, on April 9, 2018. The photo’s caption states that several dead birds were found near the intersection of Main Street and 7th Street in downtown Little Rock that month. A local ornithologist told the paper that the birds likely ate fermented berries, which can intoxicate them, causing them to fall out of trees, or off of buildings, and die.
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CLAIM: A video shows birds in northern Indiana that died from hazardous chemicals released after the Ohio train derailment.
THE FACTS: False. The video misrepresents dead birds near New Carlisle, Indiana, as an example of the event’s ill-effects.
The video shows a flock of birds hanging side-by-side on a power line upside down, some with their beaks open. More birds can be seen lying, apparently dead, on the ground as the camera pans down.
“Dead birds on a line in Indiana – nothing to see here,” a tweet that shared the video reads, along with hashtags such as “#OhioChemicalDisaster” and “#OhioCoverup.” It had received more than 2,400 likes and shares as of Saturday.
But the original video appeared on Facebook nearly two weeks before the derailment, making it impossible for the two incidents to be related.
Shelly Lister Struss, a resident of Buchanan, Michigan, a small city located about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from New Carlisle, posted the video on Jan. 22. She confirmed to the AP that she was the one who filmed it, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) outside of the center of New Carlisle.
While the death of these birds was not due to the derailment, experts were uncertain of the precise cause.
Marty Benson, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, told the AP that although the DNR “has not been on the site of this incident,” it is possible the birds “suffered electrocution from a power surge on the line.” He noted that disease is an unlikely culprit, as that would result in “a wider dispersion of the birds on the ground.”
Michael Bianski, a spokesperson for Indiana Michigan Power Co., which services the area in which the video was shot, said that a more plausible explanation is a phenomenon called conductor, or line, gallop — the sudden, rapid movement of power lines caused by wind gusts.
“This can kill birds perched on power lines as whiplash from the motion can break their necks,” he wrote in an email to the AP.
According to Bianski, it is “highly unlikely” the birds were electrocuted, given that they only appeared to be touching one power line and “electricity is dangerous when it is trying to move between two objects or finding a path to the ground.”
— Associated Press writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed this report.
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CLAIM: A photo shows birds that died in a Lexington, Kentucky, parking lot due to the hazardous chemicals released in East Palestine.
THE FACTS: False. Social media users are sharing a post that includes three photos of the parking lot from different angles along with a close up of a dead black bird to suggest that toxic chemicals from the derailment have spread as far as Lexington, more than 300 miles away.
“Here’s a parking lot full of DEAD BIRDS in Lexington, KY. 350 miles SW of East Palestine, OH,” reads one post on Twitter with hashtags such as “#OhioChemicalDisaster” and “#OhioCoverup.”
“Dead birds falling from the sky in LEXINGTON KY. Did Ohio chemical spill make it to Lexington?! The rain won’t help!,” reads another post on Twitter.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources told the AP that the birds were likely killed due to a storm that moved through the region overnight Wednesday into Thursday.
Weather reports confirm there was a thunderstorm Thursday morning at 3:54 a.m.
The bird carcasses were located in the parking lot of Haltech, a company that manufactures motor vehicle equipment. Local media also reported that the birds were found in the Haltech parking lot.
Kevin Kelly, a spokesperson with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, told the AP that the bird’s carcasses were examined Friday by Dr. Christine Casey, wildlife veterinarian at the state’s fish and wildlife resources.
Casey concluded the deaths were likely caused by blunt force trauma due to the broken bones, hemorrhaging, bruising and abrasions on the birds.
“The birds probably got startled by thunder and/or lightning, took flight and flew into a solid surface,” Kelly said.
— Associated Press writer Karena Phan in Los Angeles contributed this report.
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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
