The Environmental Protection Agency says levels of cancer-causing chemicals called dioxins in East Palestine, Ohio, are “similar to typical background levels” after a train derailment and chemical burn last month, but the agency has yet to publicly share specific data about the potent toxic compounds in the soil.
The gap between statements from the agency and data shared with the public has been a source of frustration for some East Palestine residents as the agency tries to both gain community trust but also reassure residents concerned about the potent toxins.
“As far as dioxins go, this testing isn’t coming fast enough,” said Jami Wallace, an East Palestine resident and community organizer with River Valley Organizing. “We need transparency, or people are going to assume.”
The EPA has said “final results” will be available in the “coming weeks,” according to updates from its incident response center. The agency held a community meeting last Thursday in part to discuss questions about soil sampling and its preliminary findings.
Environmental groups have been critical of how the EPA has communicated about dioxins and says the agency needs to do more to substantiate its claims to earn community trust.
“I find it outrageous that EPA makes statements like this without providing any data to support it. There is no transparency in this process at all,” Stephen Lester, a toxicologist and the science director of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, an ådvocacy group based in Virginia, said in an email.
Dioxins are toxic chemicals known to cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and cause reproductive issues. These compounds have been at the center of notorious environmental cleanups from Times Beach, Missouri, to Love Canal, New York, to “Mount Dioxin” in Pensacola, Florida.
Dioxins can be created in poorly controlled fires where chlorine is available. Because five of the derailed cars in East Palestine contained vinyl chloride, experts think it’s possible that the cloud of smoke released by the chemical fire could have contained dioxins.
Sampling and testing for dioxins is expensive and can be a lengthy process. Because dioxins are so toxic, laboratories must be capable of detecting tiny amounts of the compounds.
Dioxins don’t break down quickly and tend to accumulate in food chains, making them a particular concern for rural landowners and farmers.
Norfolk Southern, the railroad company responsible for the Feb. 3 train derailment and subsequent chemical burn, hired a contractor to sample soil for dioxins and other compounds. The sampling plan requires the contractor to inspect at least 277 sites within 2 miles of the derailment for signs of visible ash.
The sites with visible ash were to be sampled. At least 20% of sites without visible ash were also supposed to be sampled, the plan says.
Critics argue the soil sampling plan should be geographically broader, designed to test the landscape systematically and not centered around visible ash.
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