The Ohio train derailment that took place on February 3 has been making headlines again. Three days after the tragic event, the government issued orders which allowed the residents to go back to their homes, as residents living near the location of the incident were evacuated earlier.
A 150-car train that carried hazardous chemicals was caught in a fiery crash in East Palestine, which is a small village in the state of Ohio. Around 10 cars on the train reportedly contained vinyl chloride, which is a highly flammable and toxic substance.
As a result of the impact of the accident, there had been reports of vinyl chloride leaking into the atmosphere.
As the release of the toxic substance into the atmosphere and surrounding can seriously impact the nearby environment and the lives around it, authorities decided to burn off the substance before the already tragic incident would turn even more tragic.
The first responders and police worked their way through and spilled the vinyl chloride into a trench and then burned the substance. Even though the burning was a way to avoid potentially harmful effects, the burning of vinyl chloride has also got a negative side
The burning of vinyl chloride is known to release phosphene and hydrogen chloride into the air. It is a known fact that phosphine gas is a highly poisonous gas. It is a colorless gas and inhalation of this gas can cause difficulty in breathing and vomiting.
Taking the effect of the poisonous substances into consideration, authorities warned the residents of the village to evacuate further, more than the previous 2-mile radius. Around 4,800 residents of the village had to leave their homes to avoid the harmful and poisonous effect of the derailment.
The controlled burning of the poisonous substance was a success and the residents of East Palestine were allowed by the government to return to their homes on February 8.
Recently, as the news became available on a Chinese social media platform, the U.S. government had been receiving heavy criticism from netizens for failing to handle the situation effectively and also for stopping the spread of news and covering up the incident.
The information about the derailment reached the Chinese platform through two Chinese students who study in Ohio.
According to them, they have not seen a single report about the harmful and real side of the incident on any American news channel.
While the accident is being compared to Chornobyl in its possible after-effect, furious netizens accuse the government of bringing up the Chinese spy balloon case just to distract the attention of the domestic media.
While the discussion regarding the incident is getting heated up, reports claim that the sudden lift of the restriction on entering the affected area by the government is also said to induce new problems and doubts in the residents.
As the residents of the East Village who were evacuated in the light of the event were allowed to return back to their homes on February 8, there have been multiple reports from different sources which claim that people who have returned are facing some serious issues.
While the government claims that there is nothing to worry about, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reassured the claim by saying that the tests conducted at the disaster zone show no high rate of any toxic substances.
Even though the officials claim the opposite, people have been reporting different unnatural events.
According to a resident, she has spotted dead fish floating in a stream down by her house and believes that the train crash had some serious link to the incident. People also have reported the deaths of their pets like chickens and also have difficulties in breathing and coughing.
In light of the developments, people are demanding answers to their doubts.
In order to provide a stable and genuine answer to the people, different agencies like the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture is trying their best to analyze the underlying risk that can have an effect on the residents in the long run.
While the Ohio Department of Agriculture has stated that the potential risk to animals is low, the Farm Bureau Federation is currently trying to urge the people to test the local wells as soon as possible.
As the concerns and potential risk assessment of the incident are heating up on every platform, a report from Peng Yingdeng who is an expert that works with China’s central government supervision center for environmental protection and emergency management has been gaining attention.
According to his evaluation of the situation, The potential risks that can accompany the accident are quite alarming.
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The burning of vinyl chloride can lead to the production of two gasses. Carbon dioxide and hydrochloric acid. When hydrochloric acid is mixed with precipitation, it can lead to acid rain, which is very much harmful to the soil and plants growing in it.
If the bringing of vinyl chloride is not carried out properly, incomplete burning of the substance can release even more toxic dioxins and phosphate again.
The most alarming part is that dioxins are substances that are very hard to decompose and can persist in the soil for the deceased. If these toxins reach the human body through the plants or crops that are cultivated in the soil, they have a very high chance of leading to mutation and cancer inside human bodies.
People on the internet are furious about the fact that the news is not being reported by the domestic media and many believe that the government is taking deliberate measures to make sure that the news does not reach the mainstream media.
Another incident that involved New Nation correspondent Evan Lambert is also worth mentioning. Evan Lambert was arrested by the law enforcement officer while he was reporting from the disaster scene.
The incident took place in an area where the government announced that they were about to lift the restriction. The police responded to the incident by making it clear that the arrest of Evan Lambert was based on the charges of trespassing and also for resisting an arrest.
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