EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – An Environmental Protection Agency report released Monday explains why an Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology plane was not deployed immediately after the Feb. 3, 2023, train derailment in the village.
According to the report through the EPA Office of the Inspector General, existing practices were followed for the deployment of the plane that is used in chemical disasters.
However, deployment of the plane was delayed because the EPA on-scene coordinator didn’t recognize the plane’s capabilities, according to the report.
Believing on-the-ground temperature monitoring of the burning derailed cars from the derailed Norfolk Southern train was more accurate than the plane’s sensors, the on-scene coordinator didn’t call for the plane until 12:06 a.m. Feb. 6, more than 52 hours after the derailment.
Flying from its home base in Addison, Texas, the plane encountered inclement weather and didn’t arrive in Pittsburgh, Pa., until 7:39 a.m. the day of the controlled burn. Still, due to low-hanging clouds and possible icing conditions, the plane didn’t fly over the scene until the day after the controlled vent and burn was completed.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s report, the controlled vent and burn – to avoid the possible polymerization and subsequent explosion of vinyl chloride – wasn’t necessary.
After the derailment, the EPA monitored air quality into November and said it found no sustained chemicals of concern after an evacuation order was lifted Feb. 8, according to the report. The report notes thatsteps are being taken to better train on-scene coordinators about the capabilities of the plane, including measurement of temperature changes as small as 0.05 degrees Celsius. According to the report, the lead on-scene coordinator believed it was sensitive only to a 20- to 30-degree Celsius change in temperature.
A written plan for procedures for requesting the plane, as well as regular training and a fact sheet providing the its full range of capabilities, are being recommended and adopted, according to the report.
The EPA report came out the same week that documents from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, obtained by the Government Accountability Project, reportedly showed that government officials didn’t let residents know the extent of the disaster, including risks for cancer clusters.
In a news release Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli of Salem, R-6th, called for an immediate investigation of the “mishandling of the East Palestine train derailment” and controlled burn.
“We were lied to – plain and simple,” Rulli said. “I warned residents not to drink the water. I begged for caution. And I was mocked, dismissed, and ridiculed. I said then – and I say now – it will take years of testing to know the full extent of the contamination. And now we know the truth was deliberately buried. That’s not a mistake. That’s a cover-up.”
Calling for immediate federal action, including long-term medical monitoring for affected residents, full transparency from every agency involved and consequences, Rulli said he will not back down until every family in the East Palestine area has answers and support.
“While the Biden Administration hid cancer risks behind closed doors, our communities were breathing in poison, drinking polluted water and walking on toxic soil,” Rulli said. “This wasn’t just mismanagement – it was a blatant betrayal of the American people.”
Pictured at top: Railroad tracks run through East Palestine.