Eight months after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, many people are coping with mysterious ailments and anxiety over potential long-term exposure to toxic chemicals.
Since a train derailment this past February that spewed a million pounds of toxic chemicals that were subsequently set ablaze, we the people living and working in East Palestine, Ohio, are caught in an eerily similar nightmare that happened to the residents of Times Beach, Missouri, roughly 50 years ago. In 1972, town officials in Times Beach hired a contractor to spray oil on the dirt roads to suppress dust, a common practice at the time.
Sadly, it took the federal government – pushed by determined townspeople – nearly 10 years to recognize that Times Beach was also dangerously contaminated. In 1982, the Times Beach city clerk reportedly was alerted by a journalist who had uncovered official documents suspecting the town was contaminated. Taken by surprise, town officials asked the EPA to test, but were told it might be a year before that could happen.
One would think the EPA learned a valuable lesson since 1972. Yet, the agency refuses to test the air inside of our homes and businesses. I am also not aware of any ongoing EPA testing being done on private well water, which is a concern because it takes time for contaminated surface water to leech into underground aquifers. Testing is expensive, nevertheless some independent groups have started conducting their own.
We are all anxious, but what’s truly terrifying is not knowing what’s lurking in the air, water and soil around our homes and businesses. As we have learned, contaminated water outside can easily leach chemicals inside. Contaminated dust outside is constantly moved around by wind and trucks and easily makes its way inside. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Are we going to get cancer? The EPA must test the air inside homes and places of work, as well as regular water testing.
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