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Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are sounding the alarm over the potential spread of “highly toxic,” cancer-causing pollutants from the East Palestine, Ohio, site where a Norfolk Southern train derailed on Feb. 3.
In a Feb. 18 letter (pdf) to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) Director Anne Vogel, the two senators expressed the concern that testing for dioxins—a group of toxic chemical compounds—may not have been included in the agencies’ air monitoring processes thus far.
“We are concerned that the burning of large volumes of vinyl chloride may have resulted in the formation of dioxins that may have been dispersed throughout the East Palestine community and potentially a much large[r] area,” the lawmakers wrote.
According to the EPA, dioxins are a group of chemical compounds known as “persistent organic pollutants” because they break down very slowly once they are released into the environment.
