Implications for the rest of Ohio

Most recent records show that there are currently about 879,000 water wells located in Ohio alone. Vinyl chloride is highly mobile in soils and water and can persist for years in groundwater. Vinyl chloride breaks down and dissipates in a day or two; it would not be found in the air now. 

As an Ohio resident that uses well water as her main water source, Headings has concerns about the toxic chemicals using waterways to travel.

Headings says, “I am [concerned about the toxins spreading] because the Ohio River eventually branches off to a lot of different rivers.” 

Calland says that while Plain City is geographically south of East Palestine, we are upstream from the Ohio River, meaning the community shouldn’t have many concerns about the chemicals in the water here. The water in Plain City makes its way into the Ohio River, but not vice versa. The wind and weather patterns also suggest Plain City won’t see many particles in the air or water. 

While Plain City doesn’t need to worry as much about contaminated water, Calland mentions cities like Cincinnati that directly border the Ohio River should show concerns about the chemical concentrations in the water.

Calland says that “concentrations [of the chemical] have lessened every time they measure because as the water moves down the river it starts to dilute it. That’s a good sign.”

As citizens of Ohio, Calland says we should be concerned about acid rain and particles that we’re breathing. “In our community, healthwise, the risk is very low. When [vinyl chloride is] burned, it creates hydrogen chloride, which would create hydrochloric acid in the rainwater, which is where the concern for acid rain is coming from.” 

We should also be worried about policy changes to keep these kinds of things from happening to our community. Calland says she would like to think this incident will lead to railroad reforms. 

“This is what gets the attention of people in the government to make changes,” Calland says. “No one is going to stand for anything like this happening ever again.” 

 All indications are that the risks are low but that the situation is unique and requires further studying. On March 6, a month after the derailment in East Palestine, another Norfolk train derailed in Springfield, OH. This train wasn’t carrying hazardous chemicals, but steps are being taken to prevent more accidents with this company from happening in the future. 

Calland says more data and facts are needed to make concrete claims on the effects of the accident. 

“The key of science that people have a hard time accepting is that we know but we don’t know. These are the things that we know, these facts, these data points, and we can use models and previous experiences to predict what’s going to happen but we don’t know everything.”