EXPANDED. PEOPLE WHO LIVE ONE MILE FROM THE TRAIN DERAILMENT SITE HAD TO EVACUATE. JANET HILL LIVES ABOUT 1.4 MILES, BUT SHE SAYS WHEN SHE WENT OUTSIDE AND SAW THE SKY AROUND HER, SHE KNEW SHE HAD TO LEAVE. I’M A FIRST RESPONDER, SO I WAS WORRIED FOR HIS SAFETY. BUT I KNOW THAT WAS BEING TAKEN CARE OF. SO HE WANTED US TO GET OUT OF HARM’S WAY ALSO. SO WE PACKED UP AND LEFT AND WENT TO BEAVER FALLS. JANET HILL SAYS STATE POLICE CAME TO HER HOME MONDAY AFTERNOON, JUST HOURS BEFORE THE CONTROLLED BURN OF VINYL CHLORIDE. THAT WAS IN FIVE OF THE DERAILED TANKER CARS. BEFORE THAT, SHE STUCK IT OUT AT HOME. IT WAS BAD. YOU COULD SEE THE FLAMES FROM HERE. AND WE’RE PRETTY FAR OUT OF TOWN. TWO DAYS AFTER THE BURN, AUTHORITIES SAID AIR MONITORING DID NOT DETECT DANGEROUS LEVELS OF HYDROGEN CHLORIDE OR THE TOXIC GAS PHOSGENE. BUT THAT HASN’T EASED THE MINDS OF MANY RESIDENTS. WE TALKED WITH AN EXPERT ABOUT THE DANGERS CHEMICALS LIKE VINYL CHLORIDE POSE TO PEOPLE. OF COURSE, IT’S AN ITEM THAT HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF CAN IRRITATE THE SKIN. EYES, MUCOUS MEMBRANES. WHEN YOU INHALE IT, IT’LL IT’LL IRRITATE THE LUNGS. HOWEVER, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAS NOT BEEN TALKED ABOUT AS OFTEN ARE THE LONG TERM EFFECTS, WHICH OF COURSE IT CAUSES CANCER. RESIDENTS WHO LIVE IN THE ONE MILE RADIUS OF THE ORIGINAL EVACUATION COULD REQUEST TO GET THEIR AIR MONITORED INSIDE OF THEIR HOME. BUT HILL THINKS TESTING SHOULD BE EXPANDED. I THINK THEY SHOULD JUST AUTOMATIC DO THE TESTING WITH. I MEAN, BECAUSE THE SMOKE WAS GOING ALL OVER THE PLACE SATURDAY MORNING, IT WAS THE WIND WAS BLOWING, SO IT WAS GOING RIGHT UP BEHIND OUR HOUSES. AND WE JUST GOT AN UPDATE FROM OFFICIALS. THEY SAY SO FAR THERE HAVE BEEN ABOUT 300 REQUESTS FOR IN-HOME TESTING. REPORTING FROM EAST PALESTINE, ASHLEIGH ZYLKA PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS 4. THANK YOU, ACTUALLY. OFFICIALS HAVE ALSO SAID OF TWO HOTLINES FOR PEOPLE IMPACTED BY THE DERAILMENT, INCLUDING ONE TO REQUEST AIR QUALITY TESTING INSIDE THEIR HOMES. WE HAVE ALL OF THOS
East Palestine residents feel uneasy after evacuation lifted
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Updated: 7:13 PM EST Feb 9, 2023
Evacuated residents can safely return to their homes after crews burned toxic chemicals following the train derailment near the Pennsylvania state line nearly a week ago.Janet Hill lives in East Palestine, about 1.4 miles from the derailment site. She said although it wasn’t mandatory, she evacuated Monday.“I have a first responder, so I was worried for his safety, but I knew that was being taken care of, so he wanted us to get out of harm’s way also, so we packed up and left and went to Beaver Falls,” Hill said.Hill said state police came to her home Monday afternoon, hours before the controlled burn of vinyl chloride that was in five of the derailed tanker cars. Before that, she stuck it out at home.“It was bad. You could see the flames from here, and we are pretty far out of town. I was more nervous, scared, didn’t know what was in the air, didn’t know what you were breathing in and just really the unknown and to make sure nobody was hurt,” Hill said.On Wednesday, authorities said air monitoring didn't detect dangerous levels of hydrogen chloride or the toxic gas phosgene, but that hasn't eased the minds of many residents.Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 talked with Dr. Juliane Beier about the dangers chemicals like vinyl chloride can pose to people and the long-term effects. “Of course, it's an irritant, in high concentrations, it can irritate the skin, eyes, mucus membranes, when you inhale it, it will irritate the lungs. However, one of the things that has not been talked about as often are the long-term effects which of course it causes cancer,” said, Beier, assistant professor at the Department of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh.Hill, who is a breast cancer survivor, says she's hoping for the best.“I went to my oncology doctor yesterday and said to her, 'I have concerns with everything in the air,' and yeah, I was down there feeding the fire department, down there Friday, Saturday, Sunday but that's what I wanted to do, and that's where I wanted to be,” Hill said. Residents who live in the one-mile radius of the original evacuation can request to get their air monitored inside of their home, but Hill thinks testing should be expanded.“I think they should just automatically do the testing with it because the smoke was going all over the place. Saturday morning, the wind was blowing, so it was going right up behind our houses,” Hill said.
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Evacuated residents can safely return to their homes after crews burned toxic chemicals following the train derailment near the Pennsylvania state line nearly a week ago.
Janet Hill lives in East Palestine, about 1.4 miles from the derailment site. She said although it wasn’t mandatory, she evacuated Monday.
“I have a first responder, so I was worried for his safety, but I knew that was being taken care of, so he wanted us to get out of harm’s way also, so we packed up and left and went to Beaver Falls,” Hill said.
Hill said state police came to her home Monday afternoon, hours before the controlled burn of vinyl chloride that was in five of the derailed tanker cars.
Before that, she stuck it out at home.
“It was bad. You could see the flames from here, and we are pretty far out of town. I was more nervous, scared, didn’t know what was in the air, didn’t know what you were breathing in and just really the unknown and to make sure nobody was hurt,” Hill said.
On Wednesday, authorities said air monitoring didn't detect dangerous levels of hydrogen chloride or the toxic gas phosgene, but that hasn't eased the minds of many residents.
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 talked with Dr. Juliane Beier about the dangers chemicals like vinyl chloride can pose to people and the long-term effects.
“Of course, it's an irritant, in high concentrations, it can irritate the skin, eyes, mucus membranes, when you inhale it, it will irritate the lungs. However, one of the things that has not been talked about as often are the long-term effects which of course it causes cancer,” said, Beier, assistant professor at the Department of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh.
Hill, who is a breast cancer survivor, says she's hoping for the best.
“I went to my oncology doctor yesterday and said to her, 'I have concerns with everything in the air,' and yeah, I was down there feeding the fire department, down there Friday, Saturday, Sunday but that's what I wanted to do, and that's where I wanted to be,” Hill said.
Residents who live in the one-mile radius of the original evacuation can request to get their air monitored inside of their home, but Hill thinks testing should be expanded.
“I think they should just automatically do the testing with it because the smoke was going all over the place. Saturday morning, the wind was blowing, so it was going right up behind our houses,” Hill said.
