Ohio officials to release toxic chemicals from derailed train to avert explosion

Authorities in Ohio say they plan to release toxic chemicals from five cars of a derailed train in Ohio to reduce the threat of an explosion.

Governor Mike DeWine says a “controlled release” of vinyl chloride will take place on Monday at 3.30pm local time.

Residents near the site have been ordered to evacuate. DeWine said residents need to leave the area because of the risk of death or serious injury.

“We are ordering you to leave. This is a matter of life and death,” DeWine said at a press conference. Anyone who remains in the immediate area faces “grave danger of death” if they inhale the fumes.

Police officers and others knocked on doors on Sunday night telling people to leave and were back out in the same neighborhoods on Monday, DeWine said. Authorities believe most, if not all, people have left who were told to do so.

Scott Deutsch of Norfolk Southern Railway said the controlled release during the daytime will allow the fumes to disperse more quickly and prevent the rail cars from exploding and sending shrapnel and other debris from flying through the neighborhood, Deutsch said.

“We can’t control where that goes,” he said.

He estimated the process would take from one to three hours. The site is very close to the state line, and the evacuation area extends into Pennsylvania.

About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash on Friday night, according to rail operator Norfolk Southern and the National Transportation Safety Board. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.

Norfolk Southern said 20 of the more than 100 cars on the train were classified as carrying hazardous materials – defined as cargo that could pose any kind of danger “including flammables, combustibles, or environmental risks”.

The cars involved carried combustible liquids, butyl acrylate and residue of benzene from previous shipments, officials said.

Five were transporting vinyl chloride, which is used to make the polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin in plastic products and is associated with increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute.

A statement from DeWine’s office warned on Sunday night of “the potential of a catastrophic tanker failure” after a “drastic temperature change” was observed in a rail car.

Police cars, snowplows and military vehicles from the Ohio national guard blocked streets leading into East Palestine on Monday morning as authorities began enforcing what had previously been a strongly recommended evacuation zone within a one-mile (1.6km) radius of the crash site.

Schools and many businesses were closed, and the local high school was turned into a shelter.

Federal investigators had announced Sunday that a mechanical issue with a rail car axle caused the fiery derailment near the Pennsylvania state line on Friday night.

Michael Graham, a board member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said at a news conference that the three-member train crew received an alert about the mechanical defect “shortly before the derailment” but said the board was still working to determine which rail car experienced the issue.

About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine as a train was carrying a variety of products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said. No injuries to crew, residents or first responders were reported.

Norfolk Southern said 20 of the more than 100 cars on the train were classified as carrying hazardous materials – defined as cargo that could pose any kind of danger “including flammables, combustibles, or environmental risks”.

The NTSB said only 10 cars carrying hazardous materials derailed, and five of them were carrying vinyl chloride, not 14 as was said earlier. Officials stressed late Saturday that they had not confirmed the release of vinyl chloride other than from pressure release devices operating as designed.

Vinyl chloride, used to make the polyvinyl chloride hard plastic resin in a variety of plastic products, is associated with increased risk of liver cancer and other cancers, according to the federal government’s National Cancer Institute.

“Short-term exposure to low levels of substances associated with the derailment does not present a long-term health risk to residents,” according to a “Frequently Asked Questions” post on the village Facebook page. “Vinyl chloride and benzene may cause cancer in people exposed in the workplace to high concentrations for many years; however, there is no indication that any potential exposure that occurred after the derailment increases the risk of cancer or any other long-term health effects in community members.”

Officials said on Sunday afternoon that cars involved also carried combustible liquids, butyl acrylate and residue of benzene from previous shipments, as well as nonhazardous materials such as wheat, plastic pellets, malt liquors and lube oil.

The evacuation order covered homes of 1,500 to 2,000 of the town’s 4,800 to 4,900 residents, but officials said it was unknown exactly how many were actually affected. Most of those who had gone to an emergency shelter were no longer there by Sunday.

Norfolk Southern opened an assistance center in the village to gather information from affected residents. Village officials said 75 people went to the center on Saturday and about 100 had been there Sunday morning.