Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has still not mentioned the massive train derailment that rocked East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month, even though environmental disaster has potentially sparked an ecological/health crisis impacting more than 300,000 people in the area.
Some members of Congress are demanding a response from the secretary, who appeared at a conference on Monday, but failed to address the situation.
“Time to call in @PeteButtigieg for questioning for what is happened to the great people of Ohio train derailment & toxic chemical spill!” wrote Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.)
Time to call in @PeteButtigieg for questioning for what is happened to the great people of Ohio train derailment & toxic chemical spill!
The media won't talk about this ecological disaster/public health crisis, but I will – and we *will* get answers
People’s lives are in danger! pic.twitter.com/X0mBWWzTBn
— Anna Paulina Luna (@VoteAPL) February 13, 2023
“Where is Pete Buttigieg?” tweeted Rep. Maya Flores (R-Texas).
Silence from the press and the federal government is dereliction of duty to the public. Where is Pete Buttigieg? How will this Ohio train derailment affect our farmers, the nearby population, and our supply chain for Americans?
— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores2022) February 13, 2023
Roughly 50 cars—many of them containing hazardous chemicals—derailed off of a Norfolk Southern freight train on February 3, causing a fire with smoke so thick it could reportedly be seen on the weather radar.
Local authorities conducted a controlled release of the dangerous chemicals to mitigate the risk of an explosion last week, and all residents within one mile of the crash site were evacuated.
The controlled burn “sent phosgene, a highly poisonous gas used as a weapon in World War I, into the surrounding area,” Fox News reported.
Residents were allowed to return to their homes on February 8, although many in the community believe the area is still unsafe due to the toxic chemicals potentially still present in the area.
Scott Deutsch of the Norfolk Southern Railway however said he was “very pleased” with the result of the controlled burn. “The detonation went perfect and we’re already to a point where the cars are safe,” Deutsch said. “They were not safe prior to this (controlled release).”
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official James Justice said the agency’s air-monitoring tests did not show any toxic threats.
According to a list of the chemicals released by the EPA, five of the cars contained vinyl chloride, a carcinogen; one car contained ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, a highly combustible liquid; one car contained isobutylene, a flammable gas, one car contained ethylhexyl acrylate, a combustible liquid; one care contained butyl acrylates, a highly flammable clear liquid, and two cars contained benzene, another highly flammable chemical.
There is currently an ecological disaster in Ohio, and no one in the media is speaking about it. pic.twitter.com/8yzBf7cXCB
— American Virtue (@AmVirtueOrg) February 12, 2023
The cars containing vinyl chloride leaked boiling liquid into the ground and spewed poisonous gas into the atmosphere, according to an engineer who studies industrial accidents. The expert said a biproduct of vinyl chloride burning is hydrogen chloride—which can turn into hydrochloric acid and be extremely toxic to humans.
Best video I’ve seen so far #trainderailment #EastPalestine -This is a must watch If your in East Palestine, or the surrounding area. – Follow me for more East Palestine updates like this pic.twitter.com/sjZjLQD21A
— Jacob (@RaleighFam) February 7, 2023
University of Toledo environmental engineering professor Ashok Kumar told ABC News that inhaling vinyl chloride fumes “can induce dizziness, nausea, headache, and breathing complications.”
Long term, the chemical can cause cancer of the liver and other organs, said Professor Kevin Crist, the director of Ohio University’s Air Quality Center.
“Being exposed to vinyl chloride can affect a person’s liver, kidney, lung, spleen, nervous system and blood,” Crist told ABC. “People exposed to [extremely high] levels … may have an increased risk of miscarriage and birth defects. Damage to male sperm-producing organs has occurred in laboratory animals.”
Residents report that their pets and livestock are getting sick and dying in the area. There are also reports that dead fish have been observed in bodies of water near the site.
This comes after Norfolk Southern allegedly helped convince government officials to repeal brake rules and corporate lobbyists fought for watered down hazmat safety regulations, the Lever reported. The train had 141 cars total, and was nearly 1.8 miles long.
In a speech before the National Association of Counties Conference Monday morning, Buttigieg failed to mention the train derailment, although he did address an alleged lack of racial diversity in the construction business.
“We have heard way too many stories from generations past of infrastructure where you got a neighborhood, often a neighborhood of color, that finally sees the project come to them, but everyone in the hard hats on that project, doing the good paying jobs, don’t look like they came from anywhere near the neighborhood,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg made no mention of the Ohio train derailment while speaking at a conference this morning but did find the time to say that there are too many white people who work construction. pic.twitter.com/q4WNcq10h9
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 13, 2023
This train derailment and massive toxic spill happened in Ohio…
And our transportation secretary @PeteButtigieg is out here talking about construction workers being too white. pic.twitter.com/Lrv897JGYw
— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) February 13, 2023
Buttigieg did tell the audience that it is “an exciting time for transportation,” with challenges like “container shipping to airline cancellations, now we got balloons.”
Buttigieg even took questions from the audience at this event and never once brought up the Ohio train derailment that sent poisonous gas into the air.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 13, 2023