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Day: June 20, 2024
США должны осознать важность для Китая вопросов, связанных с Тибетом, и не вмешиваться во внутренние дела КНР в этой сфере. Об этом на брифинге заявил официальный представитель МИД КНР Линь Цзянь, сообщает ТАСС.
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Произойдет это при реализации альтернативного сценария в экономике страны.
The post ЦБ предупредил о возможном существенном повышении ключевой ставки в июле first appeared on The Russian World.
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (NewsNation) — Three days after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2023, officials — with the EPA’s blessing — burned 116,000 gallons of vinyl chloride into the region.
Now, for the first time since the incident, new data reveals just how far those toxins spread.
Within minutes, a mushroom-like cloud of toxins billowed into the atmosphere and smothered the area.
New research on federal precipitation and pollution data shows 16 states from Wisconsin to North Carolina to Maine were impacted by the hazardous emissions that burned in East Palestine.
NewsNation has been committed to covering the fallout of the East Palestine train derailment over the last year. Here are the most recent updates:
- Ohio train derailment: Norfolk Southern, DOJ, EPA reach agreement
- Judge signs off on $600M Ohio train derailment settlement but residents still have questions
- Independent testing finds toxic chemicals in East Palestine home
- East Palestine residents condemn EPA after whistleblower claims
- EPA ‘failed to protect’ East Palestine residents: Whistleblower
- Norfolk Southern: Ohio derailment costs rise after $600M settlement
- East Palestine residents unhappy with Norfolk after settlement
Highest chloride levels in 12 years: Researcher
David Gay, a University of Wisconsin researcher and lead study author, said his research team detected some of the highest chloride levels they’ve ever recorded the week after the burn.
Gay and other researchers with the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, which has about 260 sites across the U.S. collecting rain and snow samples, analyzed the data and were shocked by the results.
“These were some of the highest, if not the highest, we had seen in the last 12 years,” Gay said. “That fire touched a lot of points in the Midwest and the Northeast. We’re all breathing the same atmosphere. That’s a take-home story.”
Gay confirmed it was because officials decided to burn 116,000 gallons of the vinyl chloride that researchers are detecting such high chloride levels in the atmosphere. Chloride levels were the highest in northern Pennsylvania and along the Canadian border there; however, Gay said research on how it impacted Canada was not available.
“When you combust vinyl chloride, the primary admission you get is chloride ion and hydrogen ion, which we measure as chloride ion and in our pH measurement. So yes, that chloride came from that combustion,” Gay told NewsNation.
What happened in East Palestine?
On Feb. 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in the small Ohio community.
Some 1,500 residents were told to evacuate following the crash. Fearing an explosion, officials decided to vent and burn five tank cars, releasing 116,000 gallons of the carcinogen vinyl chloride into the air. Later, a toxic plume of smoke smothered the region.
However, three days later, the EPA said it had not detected contaminants at “levels of concern” and gave the all-clear for residents to return.
Since then, residents of East Palestine have complained of multiple health problems, including rashes and sickness. They’ve also criticized the government for downplaying their concerns that their community is no longer safe to live in.
Controlled burn was unnecessary: NTSB
FILE – This image taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, that still burns after it derailed the night before in East Palestine, Ohio. The lawyers who negotiated a $600 million settlement with Norfolk Southern over that railroad’s disastrous 2023 derailment in eastern Ohio want residents to talk with them before deciding the historic deal isn’t enough. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE – A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the night before burn in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
FILE – Portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed the night before burn in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2023. The White House says President Joe Biden will visit the eastern Ohio community that was devastated by a fiery train derailment in February 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
FILE – A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023. The Biden administration is initiating a formal evaluation of risks posed by vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical that burned in a towering plume of toxic black smoke following a fiery train derailment earlier this year in eastern Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, on Feb. 6, 2023. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw is set to testify before an Ohio Senate rail safety panel on Tuesday, April 18, more than two months after the fiery train derailment rocked the village of East Palestine. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
EAST PALESTINE, OH – FEBRUARY 25: A Norfolk Southern train passes underneath a bridge on February 25, 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio. On February 3rd, a Norfolk Southern Railways train carrying toxic chemicals derailed causing an environmental disaster. Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate after the area was placed under a state of emergency and temporary evacuation orders. (Photo by Michael Swensen/Getty Images)
In March, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy testified before the Senate that the controlled burn and explosion set off in the wake of the derailment could have been avoided.
Several pieces of necessary information were not shared with state and local leaders who decided to vent and burn five tank cars after being advised by Norfolk Southern contractors at the scene of the crash that it was their only option.
“They were provided incomplete information to make a decision,” Homendy said.
An investigation by the NTSB found that Gov. Mike DeWine, East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick and several other officials were told they had minutes to decide whether to vent the train cars or wait and risk an uncontrolled explosion.
“There was another option: Let it cool down,” she said.
The NTSB later showed the threat of explosion was diminished and that the tank cars were cooling when they decided to burn them.
Residents plagued with health issues
Initial Environmental Protection Agency and Norfolk Southern testing done at the derailment site showed the presence of dioxins, the most carcinogenic compounds on the planet, but officials did not test any of the residents’ health.
Independent testers who visited East Palestine examined the environment and people. Some tested the soil, others the water in local creeks and air filters in homes around the derailment site. The independent testing has shown evidence of toxins in the soil, air and water.
Residents have been diagnosed with presence of vinyl chloride in their blood and complained of respiratory issues.
The NTSB is expected to hold its final hearing on the derailment next week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
