Here's the real reason the EPA doesn't want to test for toxins in East Palestine - Guardian

[GGoss]

Here’s the real reason the EPA doesn’t want to test for toxins in East Palestine - Guardian
The agency is familiar with dioxins, having researched its adverse effects, and if they test the soil in East Palestine for it, they will find it

The decision to release and burn five tanker cars of vinyl chloride and other chemicals at the site of a 38-car derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, just over three weeks ago unleashed a gigantic cloud full of particulates that enveloped surrounding neighborhoods and farms in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

It is well documented that burning chlorinated chemicals like vinyl chloride will generate dioxins. “Dioxin” is the name given to a group of persistent, very toxic chemicals that share similar chemical structures. The most toxic form of dioxin is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or TCDD. TCDD is more commonly recognized as the toxic contaminant found in Agent Orange and at Love Canal, New York and Times Beach, Missouri, both sites of two of the most tragic environmental catastrophes in US history.

Dioxin is not deliberately manufactured. It is the unintended byproduct of industrial processes that use or burn chlorine. It is also produced when chemicals such as vinyl chloride are burned such as occurred in East Palestine.

The organization I work for, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, has worked with communities affected by dioxins for over 40 years. We have seen the impact of exposure to dioxins in communities from Love Canal and Times Beach to Pensacola, Florida. And now, we are asking, why isn’t EPA testing for dioxins in East Palestine, Ohio? Are dioxins present in the soil downwind from the site of the accident?

At a townhall meeting in East Palestine last week...

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/02/epa-toxins-test-east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-dioxins

About the Author

Stephen Lester - Science Director - The Center for Health, Environment & Justice

Stephen received his first Master’s of Science, in Toxicology, from Harvard University, and his second Master’s of Science, in Environmental Health, from New York University. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from American University. Stephen has served on numerous scientific advisory and peer review committees including those of the Natural Resource Council of the National Academy of Sciences, the National institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment.

Link: https://chej.org/about-us/meet-the-team

[WhiteTara]

1. Didn't DeWine refuse the assistance

of the EPA and burned the vinyl chloride on their own volition?

[WhiteTara]

3. I haven't watched tv on this

I'm sick of disaster porn. Knowing gqp, I'll go for the sympathy gambit, but I don't really know.

[Dear_Prudence]

9. Fake outrage

There is a lot of fake outrage,and it is its own kind of toxic. True. But for one moment, both Senators Sherrod Brown (D--OH) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) , together, requested EPA to sample for dioxin. So some concern is not fake IMHO. I live around 200 miles downstream on the Ohio. I stocked up on bottled water as soon as I heard about the disaster since the Ohio River is my drinking water source. Cincinnati Water Works shutdown the Ohio River intake while the most of the plume washed past us, so my family should be o.k. One truism that has emerged from our knowledge of how pollution moves and how the food chain works is "we all live downstream."

[GGoss]

10. You Might Like This:

Link: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217693086

And Welcome to DU !!!



The article/post I list above is from a former local. Sounds like you two might agree.

[Dear_Prudence]

12. Good article.

Informative, insightful, painful. And, yes, I agree. I am new to posting, but I followed DU for over a year before I registered. It is good to feel part of the community.

[GGoss]

13. Glad You're Here

[zeusdogmom]

7. He has a small broken bone in the foot/ankle area. A misstep that happens

Not 100% sure of the accident but I do remember reading in the local paper he injured himself and needs a boot for proper healing.

[hunter]

4. You'll probably find dioxins wherever you look in Ohio.

200+ years of coal fired industry will do that to a place.

[Dear_Prudence]

5. RCRA

Replying to comment #1: The federal RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) governs hazardous waste disposal. In case of an emergency, an exemption may be granted under EPA'S authority. I have seen no account as to if/how that exemption was obtained. Maybe attorneys will obtain the paperwork on the discovery phase of lawsuits? I have my ear to the ground.

[dutch777]

8. Anyone can go scoop up dirt along public roads and lands and answer the dioxin question.

Point that eastern Ohio and western PA may not have been pure and clean before this accident is valid. But assuming testing surface dust would certainly be a strong indicator contamination was recent rather than remnant. Certainly the EPA has an interest but they are not the only ones that can do some investigation.