The consequences on the environment are disastrous. A train carrying chemicals derailed on Friday February 3 in East Palestine, Ohio (United States). Last Thursday, local authorities said more than 43,700 animals died as a result of the accident, reports The Huffington Post.
In detail, these are 38,222 small fish and 5,500 other aquatic animals. Four different sites were analyzed by the consulting group EnviroScience to arrive at these figures.
A cleaning done
The train was carrying vinyl chloride, used in the manufacture of plastic but classified as carcinogenic and highly flammable. Waterways were affected but local authorities said a cleanup had since been carried out. “We saw no further signs of aquatic life suffering. And in fact, we’ve seen live fish come back to Leslie Run before,” the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), terrestrial animals are not affected. However, residents assured that their animals and pets had presented several symptoms such as breathing difficulties or cardiac arrest.
Complaints filed
The EPA has also asked the Norfolk Southern railroad company to “clean up contaminated soil and water resources” and to “reimburse the EPA for the cleaning services that will be provided to residents and businesses to provide further reassurance. any further “. She promised to intervene if the railway company did not carry out these actions, specifies The HuffPost.
For their part, the authorities wanted to be reassuring, assuring that the air was “safe” and that no pollutant had been discovered in the water of the municipal system. This did not prevent some residents from filing a complaint against Norfolk Southern.