Widespread, Lingering Impacts of Norfolk Southern Warrant an Emergency Response
Share this entry
Overview
It’s been over four months since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine in one of the worst environmental disasters in the country’s history, yet Ohio’s Governor Mike DeWine has not declared a federal emergency.
On Wednesday, June 15th, residents impacted by the disaster traveled to Ohio’s state house to pressure Governor DeWine to make that declaration. Doing so would open up federal funding for much-needed independent environmental testing and economic relief. The impact of the derailment still looms heavy for many: families unable to return home, farmers questioning the health of their produce and animals, struggling businesses, and continued health impacts like coughing, bloody noses, and rashes. And the impacts go far beyond East Palestine’s borders.
Image by Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2023
On-the-ground insights
A regional survey distributed by River Valley Organizing, an advocacy organization based just south of East Palestine shows that residents across Ohio and Pennsylvania felt the impact of this incident, with reports of smells, dark clouds, and health symptoms coming from as far as 50 miles from the derailment and subsequent controlled burn.
FracTracker mapped and analyzed the results of the survey, which contained 409 submissions. It’s important to note that while the survey does contain important insights and evidence of widespread impacts, it’s not a scientific study, and its results have biases based on how it was distributed (mainly through social media) and how participants interpreted the questions.
Mapping the frontline experience
We categorized the responses to the question, “What have you seen, smelled, or heard?” and mapped the results. The first map shows reports nearest to the incident (note that this map has been slightly altered to protect the anonymity of survey participants). People here describe the noise and flames from the initial crash, the “black smoke billowing from the sky,” the smell of burning plastic, and headaches, burning eyes, and other health symptoms.
All of these impacts and more were exacerbated and rippled across the region when three days later, Norfolk Southern executed a controlled detonation of five Norfolk Southern train cars, in a decision that has been questioned by emergency responders.
Map 1. This map shows what impacts residents reported in the surrounding region of the derailment. Data have been slightly modified for anonymity purposes. The dataset was captured by River Valley Organizing between 2/6/23 and 4/28/23.
How far were the derailment’s impacts?
Thirty-percent of the reports came from within East Palestine’s borders, and sixty-five percent are within a ten mile radius of the site. The farthest survey responses come from a single report in Middletown, Ohio (223 miles away), two reports in Amherst (98 miles), two reports in Lake County, Ohio (72-75 miles away) and three reports in or just outside of Pittsburgh (36-39 miles away).
Map 2. This map shows what impacts residents reported closest to the derailment. Data have been slightly modified for anonymity purposes. The dataset was captured by River Valley Organizing between 2/6/23 and 4/28/23.
People farther away are probably less likely to find the survey on River Valley Organizing’s social media, but it’s also harder to attribute the cause of a single report far from the site to the derailment. Towns like Youngstown (about 16 to 23 miles from the site), however have a concentration of reports, and also align with air modeling conducted by the CREATE Lab.
The CREATE Lab, part of Carnegie Mellon University, modeled an 18-mile plume with elevated levels of air pollution (specifically particulate matter, or PM 2.5) headed in that direction (Map 3) on February 6th, the day of the controlled detonation. They found that there are 16,937 people within this region, and 26% of them are older than 65, making them more vulnerable to the health impacts of this event. Click here to see an animation of the plume over time.
Map 3. This map shows the modeled average concentration of primary air pollutants from the railway’s controlled release in East Palestine, OH. The meteorological data used covered 2/6/2023-2/8/2023. Map made by the CREATE Lab.
The initial wind direction during the start of the controlled burn, however, was headed in the opposite direction, towards Pittsburgh. The US EPA released an analysis to identify soils most impacted by smoke and soot, and found this region (towards Ohioville, Pennsylvania) as experiencing the highest concentration of soot falling from the controlled burn, and the region to the northwest still impacted, but to a lesser extent (Map 4).
Map 4. The Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) constructed this map at the request of the US EPA to estimate the extent and concentration of soot deposited into the environment from the February 6 controlled detonation of five train cars. Source.
People in nearby towns describe the smoke passing over their homes “in a matter of minutes” after the burn. Drivers reported becoming suddenly overwhelmed by the foul-smelling air, which one person described as “so bad it took my breath away,” and another said it “feels as if it’s on our lips.” Many people who were not told to evacuate left after the burn began, and expressed frustration that they were not encouraged to evacuate or given more information about what the controlled detonation would be like. Others came back after the order was lifted, only to experience headaches, coughing, and other health effects within minutes of being home and chose to evacuate again.
What the reports show
The most commonly reported topic was the smell. Over half of the survey participants talk about the smell, which they describe as “bleach,” “burning plastic,” “sweet,” and many just label it a “chemical smell.” Some residents shared that the smell permeated their homes, and some people believed the smell to be traveling along Leslie Run creek.
While the initial survey did not ask directly about health impacts, 39% of residents described human or animal health impacts. The most common impact they described was throat irritation or coughing, followed by headaches or migraines. Other commonly reported health impacts were impacts to skin and/or rashes, and stinging and burning eyes. Many people shared feelings of fear and anxiety over not knowing what health hazards they were exposed to, and what long-term impacts they may be facing. Residents were not given clear guidance following the incident, and many survey participants noted feeling scared to wash their clothes, take a shower, and let their pets outside.
Ongoing health research
Environmental scientists at the University of Kentucky, led by Dr. Erin Haynes, have launched an online health tracking survey, which will elucidate the anecdotal reports like the ones from River Valley Organizing’s survey. Adults near the derailment (in Columbiana, Mahoning, Stark, Carroll and Jefferson Counties in Ohio, Beaver and Lawrence Counties in Pennsylvania, and Hancock County, West Virginia) are encouraged to participate in the study’s brief online survey. The research team will be conducting long-term research to assess potential health effects, and is working in collaboration with local residents to guide this work. Learn more here.
Animal impacts
Thirty-one survey participants talked about animal health impacts, and the most common impact people described was seeing dead fish. Following the derailment, chemicals in the train cars, including butyl acrylate spilled into Sulphur Run, which flows into Leslie Run and then North Fork Little Beaver Creek and eventually the Ohio River.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) reported that an estimated 38,222 minnows were potentially killed as a result of the derailment, and that an additional 5,500 other aquatic species (small fish, crayfish, amphibians and macroinvertebrates) were also potentially killed along a 5-mile span from the train derailment site near Sulphur Run to where Bull Creek flows into the North Fork of Little Beaver Creek. The ODNR believes that these deaths occurred immediately after the derailment. Water samples conducted by the Ohio EPA and United States EPA found elevated levels of butyl acrylate and other chemicals, which have since declined. You can find the latest surface water monitoring results here.
Map 5. A map of the North Fork Little Beaver Creek Watershed. The train derailment released chemicals into Sulphur Run, which drains into Leslie Run and North Fork Little Beaver Creek and eventually the Ohio River. Residents reported dead fish and regulators documented chemical impacts in these waterways.
The disaster warrants an emergency response
Governor DeWine has requested two extensions on the deadline for Ohio to request a major disaster declaration, most recently on June 13, 2023. In the letter to FEMA, the Governor wrote, “This extension would allow the State of Ohio to continue its efforts to ensure that Norfolk Southern provides the impacted areas with resources needed to recover from the event, including financial assistance, and to identify any gaps in areas of recovery where federal assistance may be needed.”
Hundreds of reports from the frontlines prove that the impacts of this disaster were widespread and life-altering. Concerned about lingering toxic impacts, many residents have left, leaving behind homes they cannot sell, while others cannot afford to leave and live in fear about what risks they face. While Norfolk Southern and public agencies will never be able to take away the intense loss residents have already experienced, independent environmental testing and compensation for the financial losses will make it easier for residents to make decisions that protect their families’ health. And for that, we need Governor DeWine to seek federal support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
References & Where to Learn More
- Health Tracking Study conducted by the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, led by Dr. Erin Haynes
- Ohio EPA’s latest surface water monitoring results
- Off the Rails: An Exploration of the Train Derailment in East Palestine – FracTracker Alliance
- East Palestine Train Derailment Waste: Community Impacts
Topics in This Article:
Join the Conversation
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Stay Informed
FracTracker Newsletter
Support Our Work
FracTracker Alliance helps communicate the risks of oil and gas and petrochemical development to advance just energy alternatives that protect public health, natural resources, and the climate.
By contributing to FracTracker, you are helping to make tangible changes, such as decreasing the number of oil and gas wells in the US, protecting the public from toxic and radioactive chemicals, and stopping petrochemical expansion into vulnerable communities.
Your donations help fund the sourcing and analysis of new data so that we can keep you informed and continually update our resources.
Please donate to FracTracker today as a way to advocate for clean water, clean air, and healthy communities.
What You Should Read Next
Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Industry Trends: Drilled Wells, Violations, Production, and Waste
A Closer Look at Risks of the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub
Falcon Pipeline Criminal Charges Explained
The Importance of Surveying Rural Landowners in North Dakota on Fracking
Exploring the Fallout of Precision Scheduled Rail: A Rail Worker’s Perspective on Precision Scheduled Rail
Not-So-Radical Transparency: An Ineffective and Unnecessary Partnership Between Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro and the Gas Company CNX
California Must Improve Management of Idle Wells
Holes in FracFocus
Mapping PFAS Chemicals Used in Fracking Operations in West Virginia
Chevron’s $2.3 Billion Asset Adjustment Raises Questions Amidst Regulatory Changes in California
Data Gaps: A Critical Examination of Oil and Gas Well Incidents in Ohio
Stop Toxic Threat: A Heavy Industrial Zoning Battle
East Palestine Warning: The Growing Threat From Hazardous Waste Storage
Index of Oil and Gas Operator Health in California Shows Risks to State Economy and Taxpayers
Calling for Change: Life on the Fracking Frontlines
On the Wrong Track: Risks to Residents of the Upper Ohio River Valley From Railroad Incidents
Digital Atlas: Exploring Nature and Industry in the Raccoon Creek Watershed
Why Do Houses Keep Exploding in One Pennsylvania Suburb?
FracTracker Alliance Releases Statement Opposing Governor Shapiro’s Agreement With CNX
Oil and Gas Activity Within California Public Health Protection Zones
Assessment of Oil and Gas Well Ownership Transfers in California
Evaluation of the Capacity for Water Recycling for Colorado Oil and Gas Extraction Operations
Evidence Shows Oil and Gas Companies Use PFAS in New Mexico Wells
CalGEM Permit Review Q1 2023: Well Rework Permits Increase by 76% in California
2022 Pipeline Incidents Update: Is Pipeline Safety Achievable?
Testimony On EPA’s Proposed Methane Pollution Standards for the Oil and Gas Industry
Assessment of Rework Permits on Oil Production from Operational Wells Within the 3,200-Foot Public Health Protection Zone
CalGEM Permit Review Q4 2022: Oil Permit Approvals Show Steep Rise Within Protective Buffer Zones
A Contentious Landscape of Pipeline Build-outs in the Eastern US
Major Gas Leak Reveals Risks of Aging Gas Storage Wells in Pennsylvania
Coursing Through Gasland: A Digital Atlas Exploring Natural Gas Development in the Towanda Creek Watershed
Falcon Pipeline Online, Begins Operations Following Violations of Clean Streams Law
Synopsis: Risks to the Greater Columbus Water Supply from Oil and Gas Production
Desalination: The Chemical Industry’s Demand for Water in Texas
Take Action in Support of No New Leases
Carbon Capture and Storage: Developments in the Law of Pore Space in North Dakota
Carbon Capture and Storage: Industry Connections and Community Impacts
Carbon Capture and Storage: Fact or Fiction?
Pipeline Right-of-Ways: Making the Connection between Forest Fragmentation and the Spread of Lyme Disease in Southwestern Pennsylvania
FracTracker Finds Widespread Hydrocarbon Emissions from Active & Idle Oil and Gas Wells and Infrastructure in California
California Regulators Approve More Oil Well Permits Amid a Crisis of Leaking Oil Wells that Should be Plugged
An Insider Take on the Appalachian Hydrogen & CCUS Conference
Does Hydrogen Have a Role in our Energy Future?
Oil and Gas Brine in Ohio
PA Environment Digest Blog: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Dispose Of Drill Cuttings By ‘Dusting’
Real Talk on Pipelines
2021 Production from Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Wells
Mapping Energy Systems Impacted by the Russia-Ukraine War
Dimock residents working to protect water from a new threat: fracking waste
Implications of a 3,200-foot Setback in California
New Trends in Drilling Permit Approvals Take Shape in CA
Oil and Gas Drilling in California Legislative Districts
New Report: Fracking with “Forever Chemicals” in Colorado
Introducing: FracTracker’s comprehensive new Pennsylvania map!
New Letter from Federal Regulators Regarding how the Falcon has Been Investigated
US Army Corps Muskingum Watershed Plan ignores local concerns of oil and gas effects
Oil and gas companies use a lot of water to extract oil in drought-stricken California
Southeastern Texas Petrochemical Industry Needs 318 Billion Gallons of Water, but the US EPA Says Not So Fast
Chickahominy Pipeline project tries to exploit an apparent regulatory loophole
Map Update on Criminal Charges Facing Mariner East 2 Pipeline
It’s Time to Stop Urban Oil Drilling in Los Angeles
Infrastructure Networks in Texas
California Prisons are Within 2,500’ of Oil and Gas Extraction
New power plant proposal called senseless and wasteful by climate groups
Ongoing Safety Concerns over Shell’s Falcon Pipeline
New Neighborhood Drilling Permits Issued While California Fails to Act on Public Health Rules
The world is watching as bitcoin battle brews in the US
California Oil & Gas Drilling Permits Drop in Response to Decreased Permit Applications to CalGEM
California Denies Well Stimulation Permits
Mapping PFAS “Forever Chemicals” in Oil & Gas Operations
Updated National Energy and Petrochemical Map
Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania Fracking Story Map
Ohio & Fracking Waste: The Case for Better Waste Management
Pennsylvania Conventional Well Map Update
Impacts of 2020 Colonial Pipeline Rupture Continue to Grow
Gas Storage Plan vs. Indigenous Rights in Nova Scotia
Mapping Gathering Lines in Bradford County, Pennsylvania
Trends in fracking waste coming to New York State from Pennsylvania
2021 Pipeline Incidents Update: Safety Record Not Improving
New York State Oil & Gas Well Drilling: Patterns Over Time
Risky Byhalia Connection Pipeline Threatens Tennessee & Mississippi Health, Water Supply
Shell’s Falcon Pipeline Under Investigation for Serious Public Safety Threats
Kern County’s Drafted EIR Will Increase the Burden for Frontline Communities
Pennsylvania’s Waste Disposal Wells – A Tale of Two Datasets
California Oil & Gas Setbacks Recommendations Memo
Oil and Gas Wells on California State Lands
Industrial Impacts in Michigan: A Photo Essay & Story Map
People and Production: Reducing Risk in California Extraction
Documenting emissions from new oil and gas wells in California
FracTracker in the Field: Building a Live Virtual Map
Mapping Gathering Lines in Ohio and West Virginia
The North Dakota Shale Viewer Reimagined: Mapping the Water and Waste Impact
Falcon Pipeline Construction Releases over 250,000 Gallons of Drilling Fluid in Pennsylvania and Ohio
Systematic Racism in Kern County Oil and Gas Permitting Ordinance
Fracking Water Use in Pennsylvania Increases Dramatically
New Yorkers mount resistance against North Brooklyn Pipeline
California, Back in Frack
California Setback Analyses Summary
Air Pollution from Pennsylvania Shale Gas Compressor Stations – REPORT
New York State Oil & Gas Wells – 2020 Update
National Energy and Petrochemical Map
Governor Newsom Must Do More to Address the Cause of Oil Spill Surface Expressions
Oil & Gas Well Permits Issued By Newsom Administration Rival Those Issued Under Gov. Jerry Brown
Pipelines Continue to Catch Fire and Explode
The Hidden Inefficiencies and Environmental Costs of Fracking in Ohio
Fracking in Pennsylvania: Not Worth It
Fracking Threatens Ohio’s Captina Creek Watershed
How State Regulations Hold Us back and What Other Countries are doing about Fracking
New Method for Locating Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells is Tested in New York State
Abandoned Wells in Pennsylvania: We’re Not Doing Enough
The Underlying Politics and Unconventional Well Fundamentals of an Appalachian Storage Hub
Permitting New Oil and Gas Wells Under the Newsom Administration
Mapping the Petrochemical Build-Out Along the Ohio River
Impact of a 2,500′ Oil and Gas Well Setback in California
Production and Location Trends in PA: A Moving Target
The Falcon Public Monitoring Project
Release: The 2019 You Are Here map launches, showing New York’s hurdles to climate leadership
Idle Wells are a Major Risk
Literally Millions of Failing, Abandoned Wells
Wicked Witch of the Waste
The Growing Web of Oil and Gas Pipelines
Unnatural Disasters
Getting Rid of All of that Waste – Increasing Use of Oil and Gas Injection Wells in Pennsylvania
A Disturbing Tale of Diminishing Returns in Ohio
Pennsylvania Drilling Trends in 2018
216 Franklin St, Suite 400, Johnstown, PA 15901
Phone: +1 (717) 303-0403 | info@fractracker.org
FracTracker Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit: Tax identification number: 80-0844297
Hello. I lived in New Castle at the time of the derailment. Do you have any data (maps, graphs, animation visuals) on Lawrence County, PA? Also, how badly was Pittsburgh affected as well? I will tell you this: the disaster truly ruined people. We are all scared of cancer now.
Hi, Michael! We would be happy to point you to any resources we have related to the derailment. Would you please send us an email to info@fractracker.org?
Hello, was Cleveland and Detroit affected by the plume? Philadelphia to the east? Virginia to the south? I live in Lawrence County Pa and I am trying to move.