- Cygnids
- Dec 14, 2021
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We just went through something where the EPA said "there's not really any reason to think there's dioxins here," and everybody screamed "dioxins, dioxins!" until finally they tested and what do you know, there weren't any dioxins, except in the Indiana test that was basically intentionally designed to show dioxins because they stored the samples in a place teeming with dioxins. (What was up with that anyway?)
If Indiana was intentionally trying to enflame panic with their testing, it seems weird for them to have announced that their tests show it as safe (and the article did directly include the context of the soil being sent and tested at the toxic waste dump, unlike what was implied).
quote:The EPA did not respond to specific questions from the Guardian, but in a statement the agency doubled down on its assessment.
“The available data, analyzed and validated by an independent laboratory, shows the waste from East Palestine that went to Indiana does not contain harmful levels of dioxins,” a spokesperson wrote.
Experts also cautioned that the levels may be safe for Indiana’s purpose – storing toxic waste in a landfill – and unsafe in the context of public exposure to the chemicals around the crash site.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/11/norfolk-southern-air-testing-cteh-ohio-train-derailment
quote:About a quarter century ago, the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health was founded by four scientists who all had done consulting work for tobacco companies or lawyers defending them. Now known by its acronym, CTEH quickly became a go-to contractor for corporations responsible for industrial disasters. Its bread and butter is train crashes and derailments. The company has been accused repeatedly of downplaying health risks.
In since-deleted marketing on its website, CTEH once explained how the data it gathers about toxic chemicals can be used later to shield its clients from liability in cases brought by people who say they were harmed: “A carrier of chemicals may be subjected to legal claims as a result of a real or imagined release. Should this happen, appropriate meteorological and chemical data, recorded and saved … may be presented as powerful evidence to assist in the litigation or potentially preclude litigation.”
Despite this track record, the company has been put in charge of allaying residents’ concerns about health risks and has publicly presented a rosy assessment.
It was CTEH, not the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that designed the testing protocol for the indoor air tests.
And it is CTEH, not the government, that runs the hotline residents are directed to call with concerns about odors, fumes or health problems. Local and federal officials, including the EPA, funnel the scared and sick to company representatives.
quote:The results of CTEH’s tests in East Palestine were used at one point to deny a family’s reimbursement for hotel and relocation costs. Zsuzsa Gyenes, who lives about a mile from the derailment site, said she began to feel ill a few hours after the accident. “It felt like my brain was smacking into my skull. I got very disoriented, nauseous. And my skin started tingling,” she said. Her nine-year-old son also became sick. “He was projectile puking and shaking violently,” said Gyenes, who was especially concerned about his breathing because he has been hospitalized several times for asthma. “He was gasping for air.”
Gyenes, her partner and son left for a hotel. At first, Norfolk Southern reimbursed the family for the stay, food and other expenses. The company even covered the cost of a remote-controlled car that Gyenes bought to cheer up her son, who was devastated because he was unable to attend school and missed the Valentine’s Day party.
But the reimbursements stopped after Gyenes got her air tested by CTEH. Gyenes was handed a piece of paper with a CTEH logo showing that the company did not detect any VOCs.
The next time Gyenes brought her receipts to the emergency assistance center, she said she was told that no expenses incurred after her air had been tested would be reimbursed because the air was safe.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/climate/environmental-protection-agency-epa-funding.html
quote:Michal Freedhoff, who leads the E.P.A.’s chemical unit, told Congress recently that the office of chemical safety would fall short of its obligations and miss many “significant statutory deadlines.” She blamed the fact that after a 2016 law significantly increased the agency’s duties, the E.P.A. under the Trump administration never sought the resources from Congress that were required to perform the work.
In fact, Mr. Trump tried each year to slash the E.P.A. budget by at least 30 percent. Highly skilled scientists and other experts left the agency as the Trump administration dismantled science advisory panels, disregarded scientific evidence and weakened protections against pollution.
“They beat down the E.P.A. work force, a lot of people left dispirited,” said Senator Tom Carper, Democrat of Delaware and chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, which oversees the E.P.A.
The result is that the E.P.A.’s chemical safety office is way behind, Ms. Freedhoff told Congress. Attracting and retaining staff has been difficult because of the heavy workload, she said.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/24/ohio-train-derailment-health-pollution
quote:Though a growing chorus of calls from independent environmental researchers and senators is pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to test for dioxins and other dangerous chemicals, the agency has resisted taking those steps, and, some critics say, is needlessly putting residents’ health at risk with its decisions.
“We don’t have any information on the presence of dioxins and we don’t have information on whether [the EPA] is testing for them because the messaging has been focused on ‘We’re not seeing vinyl chloride’, and that’s problematic,” said Pete DeCarlo, an environmental health researcher with Johns Hopkins University who characterized dioxins as a “particularly nasty chemical”.
A Norfolk Southern train carrying vinyl chloride used to produce PVC plastic derailed on 3 February in the small industrial town of 4,700 people located at the edge of the Appalachian hills, close to the Pennsylvania border. The EPA on Tuesday released data that showed no major concerns for a range of chemicals for which it had tested, but independent scientists who reviewed the data say a number of gaps remain, even beyond dioxins.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/05/forgotten-towns-ohio-toxic-train-derailment
quote:“In the immediate aftermath, regulators were absolutely right to be most concerned about the acute toxicity of contaminated air and water sources. But now they must turn their attention to areas potentially contaminated by the plume and test for dioxins to protect people with grazing animals, crops and vegetable gardens,” said Betsy Southerland, former director of science and technology at the EPA’s office of water. “They must also clearly communicate to private well owners which contaminants they need to monitor and when. People need clear answers – their concerns should not be blown off.”
Contaminated surface soil should be replaced by clean earth before planting season, but it could take months for dioxins to end up in water wells, added Southerland.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/27/ohio-train-derailment-chemicals-health
quote:On Sunday, the EPA officials said that they did not detect any contaminants in the air. But my granddaughters had developed blotches all over their bodies. They looked like burns, as if they’d spent too much time next to a sun lamp. My seven-year-old granddaughter’s leg was beet-red. They were coughing and their eyes were burning. I began to experience constant headaches and a nagging cough.
My wife’s cousin is a cancer researcher at Stanford. She called us and said, “Get the girls the hell out of there.” The railroad company had given us a voucher for two nights at a hotel, so we drove to an inn about 15 miles away.
On 6 February, officials decided to “burn off” the vinyl chloride rather than risk it exploding. The EPA said that there was a small uptick in toxins near the burn site and that it was to be expected. Dead fish started turning up in streams.
After a couple of days out of town my granddaughters’ rashes started to fade but we all continued coughing. I’ve been an athlete all my life. I don’t smoke or drink and was a pretty decent basketball player for many years. I’ve never had a persistent cough like this before.
On 8 February, authorities lifted the evacuation order. The EPA said its testing showed that the air and water were safe. We didn’t trust that assessment. Part of my family went to a relative’s house in West Virginia. Each time I’ve gone to East Palestine to check on my house my headaches start again.
It’s now been six weeks since the wreck. I dread night-time because when I lie down to sleep the constant coughing starts. My wife of 35 years woke me up recently because my breathing was so bad; she said I sounded like I had fluid in my lungs. Other people are having similar experiences. The ER doctors say it is chemical bronchitis.
I’ve lost 15 pounds due to stress and anxiety. In addition to all the unexpected expenses, I’m paying for a home that I don’t live in and I don’t know yet whether insurance will help. They’ve been saying that they don’t cover “chemical spills”. Other people are even less lucky – they can’t afford to leave. Our friend’s son keeps having nosebleeds.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ohio-t...ent-to-recover/
quote:According to Mertz, the newest estimates show that roughly 38,222 small fish were potentially killed as a result of the derailment, as well as an additional 5,500 other species of fish, amphibians and other creatures. The areas included in those estimates include Sulphur Run, Leslie Run, Bull Creek and North Fork Little Beaver Creek. All of those animals are believed to have died "immediately after the derailment," Mertz said, and none are believed to be members of endangered or threatened species.
Note that I suspect I don't have much to discuss about this and just wanted to drop in context, since imo we're very much still in the "wait and see" phase of it and nobody really knows anything except for the obvious spike and drop in acute toxicity that came from the shorter lived chemicals.
Cygnids fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Mar 27, 2023
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Mar 27, 2023 18:52
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