Hundreds of people Zoomed into a virtual Society Science forum Thursday night organized by Carnegie Science Center so they could hear experts answer questions about regional impacts from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.
The center, on Pittsburgh’s North Shore, presented three independent experts from the University of Pittsburgh: James Fabisiak, Ph.D., associate professor, and Peng Gao, Ph.D., assistant professor, both in environmental and occupational health, as well as Juliane Beier, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine specializing in vinyl chloride and liver cancer.
The Norfolk Southern train, including 20 cars carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride, derailed and caught fire on Feb. 3 in the town just over the border from Pennsylvania. Some hazardous materials were drained from the cars into trenches and burned, and some made it into local waterways. Other hazardous materials may have been created and released into the environment, as well.
The Science Center’s director of community planning, Brad Peroney Jr., said, “There’s confusion and frustration, and people want to know if their air and water are safe.”
The experts agreed that Pittsburgh residents and other people any distance from the derailment site, and those drinking municipal water, need not be too concerned.
In East Palestine itself, and in “gray areas” closer to the derailment site, further monitoring and testing need to be done, as is happening. That’s just how science works, said Gao, who also explained how time and other factors can remediate risks.
He recommended regular monitoring of well water for hazardous chemicals by those in and closer to East Palestine, and the use of water filters. Fabisiak recommended that residents who had noticeable ash from the fires fall on their soil consider bringing in fresh soil for vegetable gardens. Beier recommended that people concerned about their own health, “Have yourself monitored” by your physician. But, while stressing she’s no physician, she didn’t sound an alarm for people’s health, suggesting that those near the derailment site open their windows, especially on nice days such as Thursday, to let in fresh air.
Participants submitted more than 100 questions before the discussion, which lasted for about an hour and was recorded for the Science Center’s YouTube channel. Peroney said that the 397 unique viewers were “by far, the largest audience we’ve had since we started doing online speakers and panels.”
Peroney noted that many people asked about possible risks for children and pets, and the experts agreed that they likely would have more exposure to any contaminants due to their relative size and behaviors. To mitigate their risk, Gao gave practical recommendations such as preventing children and pets from playing in known contaminated soil or waterways or drinking from those waterways.
But again, as Beier noted, “I think we’d be less worried about that in Pittsburgh.”
She addressed the recent change in exposure guidelines for vinyl chloride, which she helped review, noting that happened in January 2022, way before this “incident,” as Fabisiak prefers to call it, instead of an “accident.”
While residents of East Palestine have immediate serious questions that need fast answers, others might want to make some time to ponder, as Fabisiak put it, “How well is Pittsburgh prepared to deal with something like this?”
“That’s certainly a sobering thought,” Peroney said. “It’s certainly something to think about.”
Afterward, he said he hopes that “Pittsburghers feel reassured that our air and water are not negatively impacted as a result of the events in East Palestine.”
But he emphasized, “My thoughts go out to the residents of East Palestine. This has been a difficult time for them, and I know many will have concerns into the future. Dr. Gao, Dr. Fabisiak and Dr. Beier did an excellent job of addressing the risks that people in East Palestine face, and I hope they take away that there are ways to mitigate those risks. This situation could have been a lot worse, and hopefully folks in the area will see their lives go back to normal.”
Watch the event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=602y9T4Unb4.
PEMA launches train derailment dashboard
To continue to address Western Pennsylvanians’ continuing questions and concerns, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, with other state agencies, has launched an online train derailment dashboard.
PEMA Director Randy Padfield said in a news release, “Our priority continues to be ensuring that every concerned resident has the information and resources they need to make important health and safety decisions for their families.”
Air and water monitoring has been happening since the train derailed, including during the controlled vent and burn, the fire afterward and in the days since. No concerning readings have been detected, and testing will continue for the foreseeable future, PEMA says.
The online dashboard is accessible at https://www.pema.pa.gov/derailment or by visiting pema.pa.gov and clicking on “Train Derailment Dashboard.”
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
