- Residents are seeing a resurgence of environmental and health problems brought by excavation and clean up efforts at the site of last month’s train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio
- Five weeks on, the air is once again thick with the aroma of toxic chemicals, some residents still don’t have safe potable water, some are suffering health issues, and layers of dark soot have covered their properOfficial tests by the EPA deemed the municipal drinking water safe, but private contractor Scott Smith, 57, told DailyMail.com they don’t detect dioxins – a carcinogenic byproduct of burning vinyl chloride
The true scale of the devastation can be seen here for the first time in exclusive pictures of the site obtained by DailyMail.com.
The burned-out shells of many of the cars remain, hobbled on the railroad sidings.
This is ground zero where a mixture of six highly toxic chemicals – including carcinogens vinyl chloride, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobultylene – leached into the soil and water.
Rail workers have complained of nausea, headaches, migraines and other symptoms, with union bosses asking for PPE.
But none of the many workers whom DailyMail.com witnessed coming and going from the site this week were wearing respirators despite the risk of exposure to health threatening toxins.