CNN
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Norfolk Southern officials said Tuesday that five trains containing the explosive chemical vinyl chloride went out of business after a train derailed in Ohio.
Burning ceased Monday after a controlled release of unstable and toxic chemicals at a train derailment site in Eastern Palestine near the Pennsylvania border.
Four of those five cars have been removed from the wreckage and crews are working to remove a fifth car, Norfolk Southern official Scott Deutsch said Tuesday.
There were more than 100 carriages on the train that partially derailed on Friday. About 20 of those vehicles were carrying dangerous goods, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident.
Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson said Tuesday, “There were no reports of serious injuries either during the initial derailment or during last night’s controlled explosion.
However, it is not yet clear when residents who have been ordered to be evacuated will be able to return home, East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Dravik said Tuesday.
“Once upon a time, the Ohio Department of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, working with the East Palestine Fire Department and the Norfolk Southern Railroad, determined that it was safe for residents of East Palestine to return to their homes. My family We will lift evacuation orders and let people go home so that people can return safely,” Dravik said.
Three days of unrest about a potentially deadly explosion culminated on Monday with a loud explosion as crew controlledly released vinyl chloride into the pit and burned it to the ground.
A large black smoke rose into the sky, and the operation proceeded as planned.
“The explosion was perfect,” said Deutsch. “We’re already at a point where cars are safe. Before this, they weren’t safe.”
Vinyl chloride is a man-made chemical used to make PVC and is easily flammable at room temperature.
May cause dizziness, drowsiness and headache. It is also associated with an increased risk of liver, brain, lung and blood cancers.
Breathing high levels of vinyl chloride can cause fainting or death without fresh air. Ohio Department of Health Said.
A train derailment on Friday set off a massive hell and increased pressure inside the hot steel.
By Sunday evening, the burning wreckage threatened a catastrophic explosion that spewed toxic fumes and could set fire to fire. Shrapnel up to 1 mile awayofficials said.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered across several square miles across the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
After the violation, officials found “slightly elevated” readings of phosgene and hydrogen chloride in the burn zone and detected “only one slight collision of hydrogen chloride downwind of the burn zone” within the exclusion zone, the EPA said. of James Justice said Monday night.
Such measurements were expected after a controlled release, Justice said.
As for the East Palestinian water supply, no impact on waterways was detected as of Monday evening, an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency official said.
Officials said the team will continue to monitor air and water quality in the area.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had also called for evacuation, said Monday evening that air and water quality are being closely monitored and that no worrying readings have been detected so far.
However, Pennsylvanians living within two miles of the East Palestinian derailment were told Monday night to keep their windows and doors closed and stay indoors.
The derailment changed life in East Palestine, a village of about 5,000 people. Schools are closed for the rest of the week, and some residents have not returned home since the initial evacuation order on Friday.
When the Norfolk Southern train crashed in East Palestine, about 10 out of 20 cars carrying dangerous goods derailed.
One railcar carrying vinyl chloride became the focus of concern after a faulty safety valve prevented the release of the chemical inside, according to officials with the Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency.
This “means that the car is building up pressure inside the steel shell and that is the problem,” Deutsch said on Monday.
But after a controlled release, “there’s no pressure on the car now,” he said.
On Monday afternoon, explosives were used to puncture a small hole in each vehicle, spilling vinyl chloride into the flare-lined ditch.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation, but National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham said Sunday that there had been warnings of a mechanical failure before the crash.
“The crew received an alert from a wayside fault detector just before the derailment, indicating a mechanical problem,” said Graham. “Then I applied the emergency brake.”
Investigators also identified the point of the derailment and found a video showing “preliminary signs of a mechanical problem” on one of the railcar’s axles, he said.
The NTSB has requested records from Norfolk Southern and is investigating when the potential defect occurred and responses from the train crew, including the engineer, conductor and trainee conductor.
