First modification:
The residents of the town of East Palestine, in the state of Ohio, have returned to their homes despite the uncertainty generated by the train accident that spilled toxic products in the vicinity of this town. The scant information fuels people’s fear, even though the authorities have ruled out any type of health risk.
The residents of East Palestine, the Ohio town that experienced a train accident with chemical products on February 3, suffer the uncertainty of returning to their homes without knowing for sure if their health is at risk or not.
The accident collapsed a train of 150 wagons with highly toxic products and has meant a major environmental disaster for the United States, but the authorities have ruled out that there may be a real risk to humans.
Despite this, the smell of burning rubber continues to persist in this small town and several citizens report that upon their return they have begun to suffer from dizziness, itchy eyes and vomiting.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in charge of monitoring pollution, has filled up pollution measurement posts all over East Palestine and, so far, none have reported dangerous figures.
There are more doubts regarding what may be affected the waters of the town. In a nearby river, thousands of dead animals have been found and efforts are being made to prevent these polluted waters from reaching other tributaries and contaminating more ecosystems.
In addition, citizens have been prohibited from drinking water from the taps and bottled water has begun to be distributed.
During the days after the accident, a massive evacuation of the entire area was ordered, which fortunately has a low population density, due to a toxic cloud that was generated by the products that were burning.
Some of these products are extremely toxic and range from chemicals used as weapons in World War I to highly carcinogenic substances.
The accident and political controversy
The issue has raised a great deal of controversy in the United States due to the causes of the accident and its management. To the point of crossing the political plane and becoming a war of accusations between Republicans and Democrats.
The head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Michael Regan, visited the area on Thursday to calm things down after several days of cross accusations about the federal response to the event.
For her part, Karine Jean-Pierre, spokeswoman for the White House, stated that same day that the federal government has sent teams from the Department of Health (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and highlighted the work from the EPA, which “has been in the area since February 4.”
Criticism has focused especially on the Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, and has come largely from the Governor of Ohio, from the Republican Party, who on the same day requested urgent federal aid for the area on the 16th.
The residents of the town, for their part, have initiated the process to sue the railway company, whom they accuse of negligence due to the state of the machine that derailed.
With EFE and local media
