91制片厂

Environmental, legal and health experts told East Palestine residents at a town hall meeting Thursday night they should be wary about the potential presence of dioxin in their soil and water.

Chemicals being carried on a train that derailed in East Palestine burned on Feb. 3, and a controlled release and burn of the chemicals on Feb. 5 sent a smoke plume into the air. Government officials said testing shows the air and water is safe, but experts say there is still cause for long-term concern.

Most notably are dioxins, University of Pittsburgh Associate Professor Carla Ng said, which are chemicals that form when other hazardous materials are burned.

鈥淒uring fire, all the chemicals mix and they transform into other things,鈥� Ng said. 鈥淓ven dioxins is not just one chemical, it鈥檚 a class of chemicals, so they have to be testing for the suite of things that might occur.

Dioxins can be found in dust, and were present in the smoke plume over the town, Science Director Stephen Lester said. The dense dioxin particles fall quickly, and likely contaminated soil and water in the area, he said, though it鈥檚 impossible to know how much dioxins are present without testing for them specifically.

鈥淭esting is critical to define where the chemicals are,鈥� Lester said, 鈥渁nd then, that鈥檚 the information you all need to use to clearly decide what you鈥檙e going to do.鈥�

When asked about testing for dioxins at a news conference Tuesday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said he was unsure if the agency was testing for dioxins yet, but that it was 鈥渦nder discussion.鈥�

The EPA must have known prior to the controlled release that burning chemicals on the train would create dioxins, Lester said.

鈥淭he EPA had to know when they were going to burn vinyl chloride that dioxin would be formed,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 criminal that they didn鈥檛 come forward with that.鈥�

Experts emphasized that residents seek out independent testing from organizations unaffiliated with the EPA and the train derailment. Doing so, Ng said, will ensure residents have documentation of the presence of chemicals in and around their homes, which will aid them in getting compensation, or pursuing legal action down the line.

鈥淎s we think about who鈥檚 affected [and] how far should we be looking is a little bit about where those smoke plumes went, and then at what point would the different chemicals fall out,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is why soil testing is so critical so we can start to understand the width of this cloud and how far things are affected.鈥�

, a social justice organization that hosted the townhall, is in the process of facilitating independent testing for residents, founder and co-executive director Amanda Kiger said.

Attendees at the townhall were invited sign up to be contacted about testing as early as Saturday, Kiger said. Any one else interested in testing can contact her by email at amandakiger@rivervalleyorganizing.org.

Residents express concerns over health and safety

Residents were concerned with their ability to go about their everyday lives without being exposed to chemicals left in the area after the derailment.

Many asked experts about the likelihood of contamination in the local creek, and shared antidotes about seeing chemicals in the water once the sediment at the bottom of the creek is disturbed.

Executive Director of Heather Hulton VanTassel said she went through the EPA鈥檚 water contamination reports, and advised residents to be cautious in local waterways.

鈥楾he [EPA] statements that it鈥檚 not contaminated is false,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou will find 15 sites that are highly contaminated. 鈥� We know vinyl chloride, for instance, was dumped, and this was over 5,000 parts per billion found in surface water.鈥�

She added that residents shouldn鈥檛 believe that water is safe just because water sampling tests showed no contamination at one part of the creek.

鈥淚 would highly recommend staying away from surface water until you can have someone come at your exact location along a run and say whether it's safe or not,鈥� she said. 鈥淵es, they might do 50 tests, but if you鈥檙e the fifty-first location that hasn鈥檛 been tested, they cannot tell you it鈥檚 safe.鈥�

One resident asked how wildlife might be impacted by chemicals in and surrounding East Palestine.

鈥淚 try to use wildlife to subsidize food for my family, and I know this community and outside this community does the same thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow far down the watershed do people in the [community] and further communities have to be worried about the deer, fish, squirrels, rabbits, all of that?鈥�

Dioxins are fat soluble, Lester said, meaning that they bind and accumulate to fats in meat and fish once an animal ingests them.

鈥淚f a cow eats grass where dioxin has settled from the air, it gets 鈥� into the cow,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat means it gets into the milk, because that鈥檚 fat soluble, it gets into the hamburger and so on.鈥�

Ng alerted residents of the risk associated with eating raised livestock or hunted wildlife while the presence and levels of dioxins are unknown.

鈥淭he same way that they recommended 鈥榰ntil your well water is tested, drink bottled water,鈥� if there is a 鈥� contaminant like dioxin present, it helps to make sure you鈥檝e got a clean source of feed,鈥� she said. 鈥淏y having a clean source of food, you can reduce exposure.鈥�

Expert shares legal advice for affected residents

Other residents pressed panelists about how to pursue legal action against Norfolk Southern, but John Heer, an attorney with , said there鈥檚 not much residents can do at this point

鈥淵ou can certainly put a lot of pressure on, say, the attorney generals of each state, or eventually, maybe the federal attorney general,鈥� Heer said. 鈥淵ou can put pressure on them, but they have discretion, and it鈥檚 a political ballgame.鈥�

Heer added the best thing residents can do is call their local and federal legislators to ensure their voices are heard.

鈥淔lood them with e-mails, phone calls, tell all your neighbors, tell all your family, friends et cetera,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he squeaky wheel does get the grease. It does work that way.鈥�