NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Local residents feared for their health and concerns have mounted about the environmental effect, after about 50 Norfolk Southern train cars, including at least 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed on Feb. 3 in the Ohio village of East Palestine.
No one was injured in the derailment that investigators said was caused by a broken axle. Fearful of a major explosion, the authorities have carved out an evacuation zone and carried out a controlled release of toxic fumes to neutralize burning cargo.
"Plumes of smoke, questions about dead animals, worries about the drinking water. A train derailment in Ohio and subsequent burning of some of the hazardous chemicals has people asking: How worried should they be?" reported The Associated Press on Feb. 15.
Concerns about air quality and the hazardous chemicals on board prompted some village residents to leave and file a federal lawsuit to force the train operator to set up health monitoring for residents in both states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Even in communities beyond East Palestine, some residents said they worry about long-term effects of even low-grade exposure to contaminants from the site. "Residents of the area have complained of headaches and feeling sick since the derailment," reported The New York Times on Feb. 15.
Some residents said that fish and frogs were dying in local streams and people have shared images of dead animals or said they smelled chemical odors around town.
Ten days after the derailment, Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, said on Twitter that it was a "complex environmental disaster" that would require "long-term study."
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
