Tag: Hazardous and Toxic Substances

Norfolk Southern to Provide Financial Support After Derailment, C.E.O. Says

WASHINGTON — The chief executive of Norfolk Southern told Congress on Wednesday that his company would create programs to provide long-term financial support to residents of East Palestine, Ohio, where one of its trains carrying hazardous materials careened off the tracks seven weeks ago and ignited a fire. Alan H. Shaw, the chief executive, told […]

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Lead Exposure From U.S. Car Batteries Threatens Health of Mexican Workers

After returning home from his job at a car battery recycling plant in northern Mexico one evening in 2019, Azael Mateo González Ramírez said he felt dizzy, his bones ‌ach‌ed and his throat was raspy. Then came ‌stomach pain, he said, followed by bouts of diarrhea. The plant in Monterrey where he worked handled used […]

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Toxic Chemical Rules Pose Test for Biden

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is preparing to impose some of the first new rules in a generation to restrict or ban an array of toxic chemicals that are widely used in manufacturing, presenting the White House with tough choices between its economic agenda and public health. Many of the substances in question are important […]

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Freight Train Derails in Arizona

A freight train that derailed in western Arizona on Wednesday night was carrying corn syrup, its operator said, hours after a report indicated that hazardous materials were on board. The accident near the town of Topock, Ariz., occurred less than six weeks after a train derailment in Ohio released toxic chemicals and prompted a national […]

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Ohio Attorney General Sues Norfolk Southern Over Train Derailment

The Ohio attorney general filed a 58-count federal lawsuit against Norfolk Southern on Tuesday, charging that the derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals last month in the village of East Palestine was a product of the company’s negligence and recklessness, posing serious health risks to people in the area and causing “substantial damage to […]

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Biden Administration to Restrict PFAS Levels in Drinking Water

WASHINGTON — For the first time, the federal government will require utilities to remove from drinking water two toxic chemicals found in everything from waterproof clothing to dental floss and even toilet paper, the Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday. Michael S. Regan, the administrator of the E.P.A., said the government intends to require near-zero […]

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Health Concerns Mount in East Palestine Weeks After Ohio Train Derailment

“There are hundreds of chemicals that could be at play at this point, and we absolutely have the tools in academia to test for most all of them,” said Dr. Kari Nadeau, the head of the environmental health department at Harvard, who studies the toxicological effects of smoke in air pollution, including burning plastics. But […]

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Ohio Derailment Highlights Gap in Rail Safety Regulations

The company wanted to “use your community’s safety as their bargaining chip to further pursue their record profits,” the official, Jonathon Long, wrote. He is the general chairman of the American Rail System Federation of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, a division of the Teamsters. In many cases, the drive for efficiency has […]

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How a Derailed Train Galvanized an Ohio Town, and Congress

Emily Cochrane contributed reporting. The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, […]

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A Warning for the Newest Victims of Federal Neglect and Corporate Greed in Ohio

Dead birds still fall from the sky near my hometown. Their bodies hit the ground as part of the fallout of an environmental disaster that dates back to the 1970s, the result of corporate pollution that made the county I grew up in the home of one of Michigan’s most notorious Superfund sites. It’s impossible […]

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Train Operator May Face Residents Over Toxic Ohio Derailment

Nearly four weeks after a freight train derailed near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border with a cargo of toxic chemicals, the dozens of tests and visits from high-ranking government officials and politicians to East Palestine have done little to assuage the anxiety and mistrust of a town rattled by the threat of long-term chemical exposure. On Thursday […]

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Senate Republicans and Democrats Propose Rail Safety Bill

WASHINGTON — A group of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate is proposing legislation to mandate that the Transportation Department tighten safety rules for freight rail, the first glimmer of bipartisan activity on the issue since a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last month. The measure by Senators Sherrod Brown, a […]

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Ohio Train Derailment: Separating Fact From Fiction

The derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that spilled toxic chemicals and led to a controlled burn of the substances in East Palestine, Ohio, has become one of the highest-profile — and most politicized — incidents of its kind in the United States in recent years. Frightened residents in the town of 4,700 have complained […]

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Conspiracy Theorizing Goes Off the Rails

On Feb. 3 a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Some of the contents immediately caught fire. Three days later authorities released and burned off additional material from five tankers. These fires caused elevated levels of harmful chemicals in the local air, although the Environmental Protection Agency says that the pollution wasn’t […]

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After Train Derailment In East Palestine, Lawyers Sign Up Clients in Droves

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — In the three weeks since a freight train derailed in East Palestine and released more than 100,000 gallons of toxic chemicals, lawyers have poured into the little town, signing up clients, gathering evidence and already filing more than a dozen lawsuits in federal court on behalf of local residents. They have […]

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Politics Invade the East Palestine, Ohio, Train Crisis

The fever pitch of distrust was understandable for a community that saw what appeared to be an apocalyptic plume of chemicals rise from the wreckage on the rail line, then filmed dead fish and frogs in East Palestine’s streams and complained of headaches, sore throats, coughing and skin rashes — all as government officials assured […]

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NTSB Report on Ohio Train Derailment Says Crew Tried to Slow Down

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The crew of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying toxic chemicals tried to slow the train moments before it derailed in the outskirts of East Palestine this month as an overheating wheel bearing set off an audible alarm on the train, an initial report from federal investigators found. While the wheel bearing […]

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With Ohio Visit, Trump Seeks to Draw Contrast With Biden Over Train Derailment

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Former President Donald J. Trump will visit on Wednesday afternoon the site of a train derailment that spewed toxic chemicals in this Ohio town, stepping into an intensifying battle between Republicans and Democrats over environmental regulations and who has — and who hasn’t — shown up on the ground. Mr. Trump, […]

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Ohio Farm Owners Worry About Land and Livestock After Train Derailment

ENON VALLEY, Pa. — Even with the trees still barren, Pam Mibuck could picture how the seasons would unfold on the land her uncle bought decades ago: a field of sunflowers in the summer, fresh apples for the horses and pie in the fall, and a tranquil place for her sons to come home to no […]

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E.P.A. Orders Norfolk Southern to Pay All Cleanup Costs in East Palestine, Ohio

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday ordered the operator of a train carrying hazardous chemicals that derailed in eastern Ohio to clean up any resulting contamination and pay all the costs. The operator, Norfolk Southern, will not only be compelled to identify and clean contaminated soil and water, but also must reimburse the E.P.A. for […]

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Many in East Palestine Seek Out Their Own Screenings for Toxic Chemicals

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — When a team came by the morning of Valentine’s Day to test the air quality in Maggie Guglielmo’s store a few blocks from where a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed this month, the smell was undeniable. “The air monitoring team left within 10 minutes due to the unpleasant/overwhelming odor,” the […]

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Norfolk Southern’s Profits and Accident Rates Rose Before Ohio Derailment

Last month, as Norfolk Southern, one of the largest railroads in North America, reported record operating profits, Alan H. Shaw, its chief executive, told shareholders that the company’s service was “at the best it’s been in more than two years.” About a week later, one of the company’s freight trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, […]

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After the Ohio Derailment Disaster, the Rail Industry Can Do Better

ENGINES Diesel locomotives CARS 1-22 Unknown / Not in manifest HOPPER CAR / ARSX 4145 Polypropylene Plastic HOPPER CAR / BRKX 66738 Polypropylene Plastic Beginning of train derailment HOPPER CAR / GPLX 75465 Polyethylene Plastic Burned HOPPER CAR / ECUX 860375 Polyethylene Plastic Burned TANK CAR / UTLX 684543 Empty Residues of petroleum lubricating oil […]

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Ohio Derailment: Head of EPA Visits East Palestine, But Residents Still Frustrated

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — ​​The head of the Environmental Protection Agency traveled to this small community on Thursday with promises of aid but faced skepticism from residents outraged over what they saw as a delayed response to the toxic spill unleashed by the recent train derailment. The visit came within hours of an emotional and […]

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Burn Pit Program for Veterans Could Cost at Least $400 Billion, Agency Finds

WASHINGTON — A sweeping new entitlement program to provide medical care to millions of veterans who may have been exposed to trash burn pits on U.S. military bases around the world may increase federal spending on veterans by at least $400 billion and as much as $789 billion over a decade, according to the official […]

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‘Chernobyl 2.0’? Ohio Train Derailment Spurs Wild Speculation

After a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in Ohio nearly two weeks ago, residents have feared for their safety. A controlled burn of the toxic materials has filled the air and covered surface waters and soil with chemicals. Dead fish have floated in nearby creeks and an unnerving aroma has lingered in the air. But […]

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Horseshoe Crabs Are in Trouble. How Much Longer Can We Rely on Their Blood to Test Our Drugs?

Sanofi Pasteur, Pfizer and Roche-Genentech, sharing Lilly’s concerns about the depletion of horseshoe crabs, are also making the long transition to using rFC. A green light from U.S.P. would save drug makers “weeks of laboratory validation tests and documentation for every new product and subsequent F.D.A. regulatory review and approval,” according to Ned Mozier, a […]

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Ohio Residents Press for Answers on Train Derailment at Town Hall Meeting

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Hundreds of Ohio residents gathered in a school gym on Wednesday night to demand answers about the ongoing fallout from a derailed train carrying hazardous chemicals, transforming what had been billed as an informational meeting into a heated town hall where officials with the railroad company didn’t even show up. The mayor […]

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In Ohio Town Where Train Derailed, Anxiety and Distrust Are Running Deep

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — All around the once-thriving industrial town in the quiet hills of eastern Ohio, there were signs this week of business as usual. Schools were in session, restaurants were serving lunch and trains were again barreling along the tracks that cross Market Street. But all around, too, were signs that nothing was […]

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What Toxic Chemicals Were Aboard the Derailed Train in Ohio?

Health and environmental concerns are mounting after the train derailment and toxic chemical fire this month in eastern Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border. According to information provided to the Environmental Protection Agency by the rail operator, Norfolk Southern, around 20 of the train’s roughly 150 cars were carrying hazardous materials. Here’s a quick guide to […]

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