East Palestine residents are sharing their frustration over the news that the controlled release of chemicals after last year’s toxic train derailment wasn’t necessary.
Evidence shows the temperature in the tanker car with vinyl chloride had already stabilized and there was no need for a burnoff, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy testified during a U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hearing Wednesday.
“I think that's really messed up,” East Palestine resident Sarah Gump said.
Gump lives near the train tracks about a mile from the derailment site. She thinks the decision to burn was rushed.
“I think everybody was jumping the gun instead of actually thinking at the time. And, I think there's probably a lot more that hasn't come to light yet,” Gump said.
Throughout its investigation into the derailment and subsequent emergency response, the NTSB has questioned the decision to vent and burn the five tanker cars that were carrying vinyl chloride.
Officials from Norfolk Southern and its contractor testified in NTSB hearings in 2023 that the decision to vent and burn the vinyl chloride was made out of fear of polymerization, a molecular chemical reaction that could have resulted in a catastrophic explosion.
East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick, the incident commander during the emergency, testified that all of the officials and agencies present for the decision, including Gov. Mike DeWine, believed the controlled burnoff was the best option.
But they were missing some key facts, Homendy said Wednesday.
"In order for polymerization to occur … you would have to have rapidly increasing temperatures and some sort of infusion of oxygen, neither of which occurred," Homendy said.
DeWine was not told that representatives from OxyVinyls, the company that was shipping the vinyl chloride, were present at the scene and did not think polymerization was occurring, Homendy added.
During the Senate hearing, Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance said he and some residents believe Norfolk Southern officials may have been behind the push for the controlled burn.
Gary Taylor, another East Palestine resident, agrees.
“They could have just let it cool down, but that would have meant that they didn't get the trains working again that fast, and I think it's bull crap, that they don't care about us [and] our livelihoods,” Taylor said.
Taylor has questions about what comes next and whether there will be repercussions for Norfolk Southern.
Gump added that she’s had sinus and stomach issues in the year since the derailment, which she believes were caused by the chemicals released in the burn. Taylor said he has had breathing problems.
State and federal Environmental Protection Agency officials maintain that there were a safe level of toxins in the air, water and soil.
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